Last month, we learned that the rivalry between legendary competitive eaters, Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi and America’s Joey Chestnut, would be renewed this Labor Day. It will be their first head-to-head, hot-dog-eating-showdown in 14 years. 

A dispute with the organizers of Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating contest, a July 4th tradition, had forced Kobayashi out of the competition in 2010. A similar dispute this year for Chestnut set the stage for a long awaited rematch between two men who had accounted for 22 of the last 23 Nathan’s Famous titles. 

So today, we bring you an interview with Takeru Kobayashi himself, exploring what drove him to rethink and revolutionize the sport of eating in the early 2000s, why his rivalry with Chestnut wasn’t as fun as it looked, the false reports of his retirement, and what we should expect to see when these two finally meet again on Labor Day.

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