Hot dog eating champ Joey Chestnut gobbles up new Nathan’s title
Chestnut ate 62 frankfurters in their buns to win the long-running Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hotdog Eating Contest.
Reigning champion Joey Chestnut has gobbled his way to another win at Nathan’s famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in the United States, scoffing 62 frankfurters in their buns in just 10 minutes.
Chestnut out-ate runner-up Geoffrey Esper and an international field of 15 competitive eaters to clinch his 16th title after a two-hour delay because of stormy weather. Esper managed to eat 49 hot dogs.
“What a roller coaster, emotionally,” said 39-year-old Chestnut, who began competing for the Nathan’s title in 2005 and has not lost since 2015. His best performance was two years ago when he managed to consume 76 hot dogs, a world record.
Chestnut said he was disappointed not to have managed more this time but said he planned to push his body to new limits in the future.
“Today, things got in the way, but I’ll be coming back,” he told the sports channel ESPN.
In the women’s contest, defending champion and world-record holder Miki Sudo ate 39 and a half hot dogs and buns to collect her ninth Mustard Belt.
Sudo, 37, was disappointed in her winning total, which was nine hot dogs short of her all-time high. She said competition from 27-year-old Mayoi Ebihara, who emerged the runner-up, had distracted her.
“The first couple minutes, I found myself watching her, which I never want to do. I never want to be distracted by the other competitors,” Sudo said after the competition. “Watching her, I fumbled my hands. I got stuck with a big burp early on but was able to correct.”
The annual contest on New York City’s Coney Island drew competitors from England, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Brazil and Australia, according to ESPN.
The traditional 10-minute contest began in 1980 when the winning hot dog eaters tied with nine each. Chestnut, by comparison, typically eats nine hot dogs in less than a minute.
