CONEY ISLAND — Famed aggressive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut reclaimed his title Friday on the Nathan’s Well-known Fourth of July hot-dog consuming contest after after skipping final yr’s gastronomic battle in New York for the coveted Mustard Belt.
Chestnut, 41, consumed 70 1/2 scorching canines and buns in 10 minutes, falling wanting his report of 76 wieners and buns set on July 4, 2021. It marked the seventeenth win in 20 appearances for the Westfield, Indiana, eater on the internationally televised competitors, which he missed in 2024 over a contract dispute.
Defending champion within the girls’s division, Miki Sudo of Tampa, Florida, received her eleventh title, downing 33 canines, besting a dozen opponents. Final yr, she ate a report 51 hyperlinks.
A big crowd, many carrying foam scorching canine hats, braved excessive temperatures to witness the annual eat-a-thon, held exterior the unique Nathan’s Well-known restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn, since 1972. Many present as much as see Chestnut’s much-awaited return to an occasion he has referred to as “a cherished custom, a celebration of American tradition, and an enormous a part of my life.”
Chestnut bested 14 fellow opponents from throughout the U.S. and internationally, together with Australia, the Czech Republic, Ontario, England and Brazil.
The annual gastronomic battle, which dates again to 1972, is held in entrance of the unique Nathan’s Well-known’ restaurant at New York’s Coney Island and attracts massive crowds of followers, many in foam scorching canine hats.
Rivals within the males’s and girls’s classes chow down as many scorching canines as doable in 10 minutes. They’re allowed to dunk the canines in cups of water to melt them up, making a stomach-churning spectacle.
The 15 males within the competitors hail from throughout the U.S. and internationally, together with Australia, Czech Republic, Canada, England and Brazil.
The 13 girls opponents are all People.
Joey Chestnut set the world report of consuming 76 wieners and buns in 10 minutes on July 4, 2021. He has received a report 16 Mustard Belts. As an alternative of showing in New York final yr, Chestnut ate 57 canines – in solely 5 minutes – in an exhibition with troopers, in El Paso, Texas.
Chestnut advised The Related Press final month that whereas he was blissful to compete at that occasion, he was “actually blissful to be again at Coney Island.”
Chestnut stated he had by no means appeared in any commercials for Inconceivable Meals’ vegan scorching canines and that Nathan’s is the one scorching canine firm he has labored with. However he acknowledged he “ought to have made that extra clear with Nathan’s.”
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