Wood Dale native eats his way to fame

Clawing his way through a whole spiral ham, Juris Shibayama hoped to mash it with his fingers to make for easier swallowing.

He also tried dipping it in ketchup, but that didn't seem to work. Finally, he just washed it down with some fruit punch.

The Wood Dale native ended up eating 1.7 pounds of ham in eight minutes.

"The stuff was flying all over the place," said Shibayama, who competed in a Major League Eating championship that aired Sunday on Spike TV during halftime of the Super Bowl. "I'm not sure it was the most efficient method, but it did put on a good show."

Though Shibayama placed last in this competition, he was ranked eighth in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Prior to that, he was ranked 23rd.

"I was just happy to be there at the table with the top eight," Shibayama said.

A spinal surgeon by profession, Shibayama competed with some of the world's best speed eaters. That includes Joey Chestnut, who won the championship by consuming 7.14 pounds of ham.

If he could turn back time, Shibayama said he would have swallowed bigger pieces instead of mashing the meat.

A 1992 graduate of the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, Shibayama has only been competing in Major League Eating for a little over a year.

His eating accomplishments include chomping down a dozen glazed doughnuts in 90 seconds and consuming more than 11 pounds of cranberry sauce in eight minutes. He also ate 39 burgers in eight minutes.

Last week, the 32-year-old competed in a chicken wing eating contest in Philadelphia. He ate 95 hot wings in 14 minutes, but roughly 25 were deducted because he didn't lick the bones clean.

In the comings months, he will be training for Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest and a crystal hamburger contest in October. Both will be televised on ESPN, he said.

"I'm looking to make my gustatory mark in 2008," he said. "This is the year that I'm really trying to make my mark. Stay tuned."

To watch the half-hour show that aired Sunday on Spike TV, visit www.spike.com/network/spike/