Eating champ downs 45 slices of pizza

Joey Chestnut, 24, takes title by accomplishing feat in just 10 minutes

	"Humble" Bob Shoudt of Royersford, Pa., left, and fellow competitive eater Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., devour slices of cheese pizza at the first Famous Famiglia World Pizza Eating Championship contest Sunday in New York City. Chestnut ate 45 cheese slices in 10 minutes to win the contest.
Rhonda Vanover / Getty Images

Video: Life

More video

Seniors get inked
Dec. 7: An Ohio tattoo artist sees an increase in senior citizens getting tattoos. WLWT's Karin Johnson reports.

Obama pays tribute to Kennedy honorees

Lookout boys! Female gamers on the rise

Troupe empowers teens on, off stage

Program works to give young people a 'voice'

NBC Field Notes

NBC News correspondents and producers across the U.S. shed light on the news of the day.

Photo features

Reuters	The Week in Pictures A giant praying mantis, Festival of Sacrifice, bubble in space, Bhopal, military farewell, Afghanistan marine, Italian justice and more news and feature images from around the world.
Reuters	PhotoBlog View and discuss the pictures and issues that caught our eyes.

updated 10:50 p.m. ET Oct. 12, 2008

NEW YORK - Chowdown champ Joey Chestnut has done it again — this time proving he's a pizza powerhouse.

He downed 45 slices in 10 minutes Sunday to win the first Famous Famiglia World Pizza Eating Championship in New York's Times Square.

The 24-year-old from San Jose, Calif., says he fasted for more than a day to prepare. He folded and squeezed the slices to make them easier to swallow.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

Chestnut rocketed to competitive-eating celebrity when he won Coney Island's July Fourth hot-dog eating contest in 2007. He took the title again this summer by gulping down 59 dogs in 10 minutes.

He won a contest in Tennessee last month by wolfing down 93 Krystal hamburgers in 8 minutes.