Peter Dowdeswell

English gourmand Peter Dowdeswell, born in London on 29 July 1940, is among the most successful competitive eaters in the recorded history of the sport. During the period when the Guinness Book of World Records kept data, Dowdeswell held more speed records than any other person, including records for the drinking of ale and the eating of eggs (hard-boiled, soft-boiled, and raw) and Cheddar cheese.

Dowdeswell accomplished most of his feats for charity, he says, rather than for record-breaking or insatiable hunger.

World records

• Large sausage: 60 in 36 seconds [1]
• The fastest drinking of a yard of ale: 4.9 seconds