Apparently, forcing yourself to swallow dozens of barely-chewed hot dogs as quickly as possible every couple months can have adverse effects on your body. No, not chronic obesity, an insufficient diet, or metabolism issues–we’re talking about arthritis of the jaw.

That’s right, competitive eating mainstay Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi may withdraw from this year’s July 4th hot dog eating contest at Coney Island because, as he put it, “My jaw refused to fight anymore.” Now, injuries to great athletes in any sport are usually sad occasions, but when someone so proficient and generally well liked–think Ken Griffey Jr, Grant Hill, or Albert “Model Human” Belle–suffers a career-altering debilitation, sports as we know it, which in this case means breaking hot dogs in half, dipping buns in water, and cramming everything down your throat, will just never be the same.

Surely, it is sad to witness the writing on the wall for any legendary athlete, be it Pete Sampras’ continuing inability to win the French Open, Troy Aikman receiving his twelfth concussion and thus being rendered unable to count that high anymore, or Michael Jordan calling his Wizards teammate Kwame Brown a “flaming faggot,” but on the plus side, Kobayashi’s fall likely opens the door for American Joey Chestnut to ascend to competitive eating’s vomit-colored throne. Yes, Japan may still have the U.S. in life expectancy, public transportation, and other useless junk, but this July 4th, we are gonna reclaim what rightfully belongs to us: being able to eat way too much disgusting food really really fast. Wooooo!!!! U-S-A! U-S-A!