In Chattanooga, Tennessee, last November I watched Takeru Kobayashi devour a record 97 hamburgers with buns, onions and mustard in eight minutes flat – one every five seconds. It was a repulsive, riveting and astounding feat.

Participants in the annual World Hamburger Eating Championship had sought to persuade me that competitive eating was a sport requiring extraordinary physical ability and mental toughness.

I was deeply sceptical until I watched the baby-faced wisp from Japan in action. The 13 “gurgitators” lined up, the MC counted down, and they were off – a blur of flying hands, bobbing heads and gaping gullets. Mr Kobayashi wetted each burger before stuffing it into his mouth. After two minutes he had consumed 23, leading Joey Chestnut, America’s great hope, by one.

Within five minutes both had smashed the previous record of 69, and the 3,000 spectators were roaring.

The two men shimmied and danced to shake the food down. They forced burgers past gagging epiglottises.

I felt sure they would vomit, but they kept going – each bun a triumph of mind over rebellious body.

Finally the buzzer sounded. Mr Chestnut had devoured 91 – 21 more than the record but six fewer than Mr Kobayashi. “Awesome,” muttered my neighbour.

The Donald Bradman of competitive eating punched the air, high-fived rivals, and happily revealed his grotesquely distended stomach.

But he refused to say how he trained. Some say that Mr Kobayashi has turned his oesophagus into a mere tube no longer hampered by the need to swallow. I could well believe it.

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