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To: Alex who wrote (14106)	7/4/1998 9:59:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116764

Alex OFF TOPIC--DO NOT DISCOUNT JAPANESE Japanese retains hot dog competition title 06:41 p.m Jul 04, 1998 Eastern By Jeanne King NEW YORK (Reuters) - Defending champion Hirofumi Nakajima, known as ''The Tokyo Terror,'' retained his world title Saturday by eating 19 hot dogs complete with buns in 12 minutes at Nathan's hot-dog-eating contest in Coney Island. The slight Nakajima, 23, beat out his massive American challenger, Ed ''The Animal'' Krachie, 35, in what promoters had billed as a grudge match between the two contenders in the annual event. From a field of 16, the 5-foot-6-inch Nakajima, who weighs only 135 pounds, walked away with the coveted mustard-yellow International Belt, a huge red trophy and 20 pounds of Nathan's hot dogs to take back to Japan. Nineteen hot dogs is the equivalent of five pounds of food, George Shea, the contest spokesman said. ''I will be back next year,'' Nakajima vowed through an interpreter. The Japanese gustatory wonder, a furniture delivery worker from Kofu, ate 24 1/2 hot dogs and buns to win the title in 1997. He also claims he can eat 100 pieces of sushi in 30 minutes. Krachie, a 6-foot-7-inch mechanical engineer of Maspeth, Queens, New York, who weighed in at 381 pounds , recently accused the Japanese champion of cheating by possibly using muscle relaxants to give him an edge. ''Not so,'' Nakajima said. He declined to share the secret of how he gets so much food down in so short a span, and would only say that he likes to be with American people on the Fourth of July. He did explain that he eats more and more each day as he approaches the event in order to stretch his stomach. On the day of the contest, he has only a light breakfast, he said. Krachie, who swallowed 20 dogs, complete with buns, in 1997 to finish second, was goaded out of retirement but was only able to chow-down 14 wieners and buns Saturday to finish in third place. A New York City corrections officer, ''Hungry'' Charles Hardy, took second place and became the American champion this year by eating 17 1/2 hot dogs and buns. His first request on coming in second was to ask for a beer. Hardy, whose job is to shepherd those accused of crimes at Manhattan Criminal Court, said he has never practiced for an eating contest. ''I have no secret. At the urging of my union, I just walked in two weeks ago and signed up. I ate one (hot dog) and that was it.'' He said he plans ''to go for it again next year. I'll give it my best,'' he said. The eating contest has been held in Brooklyn's Coney Island every Fourth of July since 1916 as a publicity stunt for Nathan's Famous hot dogs, which opened at the Atlantic Ocean amusement park that year. A new British contender -- Barry Noble, 53, from Hexham, in Northumberland, England, which borders Scotland -- said he held the distinction of eating the most haggis -- 1 1/2 pounds in 84 seconds -- but he only managed to down 12 hot dogs and 10 buns. Haggis is a traditional Scottish dish of the heart, lung and liver of a sheep mixed with oatmeal and boiled in a sheep's stomach. The National Hot Dog Council estimates Americans will eat 88 million hot dogs Saturday at Independence Day celebrations. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited