COMPETITIVE EATING
Chestnut sets another record
Reigning champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut on Sunday wolfed down 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to break his own record in winning a 14th Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. The world’s top-ranked hot dog devourer gulped down 26 more frankfurters and buns than runner-up Geoffrey Esper, and one more than Chesnut ate in winning the annual Fourth of July holiday event last year. “It just felt good,” Chestnut told broadcaster ESPN of chowing down in front of fans at a Nathan’s shop in New York City’s Coney Island, after last year’s contest was held indoors without spectators because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Even if I was uncomfortable, having everybody cheer me and push me, it made me feel good,” he added. Chestnut has won 14 of the past 15 contests since he defeated six-time defending champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan in 2007. Michelle Lesco downed 30 and three-quarter hot dogs and buns to win the women’s title ahead of Sarah Rodriguez.
OLYMPICS
Japan selects flagbearer
Japan has selected basketball player Rui Hachimura and wrestler Yui Susaki as joint flagbearers for the Tokyo Olympics, organizers said yesterday, placing representatives of a younger, more diverse generation of Japanese at the head of its national team. Hachimura, 23, was raised in Japan as the child of a Japanese mother and Beninese father, and plays for the NBA’s Washington Wizards. He joins female wrestling medal hope Susaki, 22, as flagbearers leading the host nation’s team at the opening ceremony on July 23, the Japanese Olympic Committee announced. The joint flagbearer role for Japan and other teams is a break with tradition after the International Olympic Committee changed the rules to send a message of gender parity. Hachimura, one of a growing number of mixed race Japanese as international marriages increase, has commented publicly about his experience of racist abuse. In May his younger brother, Allen, who plays basketball at university, posted a screenshot of a racist message he had received. “People say Japan is not a racist country,” Allen Hachimura wrote in the Twitter post. “I want everyone to care about the problem of racism,” he added. “I get messages like this almost every day,” Rui Hachimura wrote in a reply to his brother’s post.
RUGBY UNION
Folau joins Japanese side
Dual-code international Israel Folau, who was sacked by Rugby Australia in 2019 for saying “hell awaits” gay people, is to play club rugby in Japan next season, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced yesterday. Folau has signed with the NTT Communications Shining Arcs in the premier domestic competition when it starts its new season in January next year. At his new club, based in Chiba near Tokyo, he would be coached by Rob Penney, who was sacked by NSW Waratahs in March after a nightmare five-loss start to the Super Rugby AU season. Folau was released “with immediate effect” by French rugby league side Catalans Dragons last week. The 32-year-old had informed the club he wanted to stay in Australia for what the Dragons said was “a personal family situation,” and also play for small-town club Southport Tigers, alongside his two brothers.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two
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