World hot dog eating champion, Takeru Kobayashi, was diagnosed with jaw arthritis during his training for the July 4 Nathan's Famous hot dog eating event in New York.

On his blog entitled "Occupational Hazard" he said he can only open his mouth the size of a fingertip. He suffered the injury only a week into training.

He said, "I feel ashamed that I couldn't notice the alarm bells set off by my own body. But with the goal to win another title with a new record, I couldn't stop my training so close to the competition.

"I was continuing my training and bearing with the pain but finally I destroyed my jaw,'' he added.

Kobayoshi said he still plans to attend the event in New York, even though he will not be able to compete.

The 29-year-old's latest world-record is 53 and three-quarters hot dogs in 12 minutes. He has won six straight world titles.