Joey “Jaws” Chestnut ate 62 franks and buns in 10 minutes to make another win at Nathan‘s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest after a rain delay.
Chestnut out-ate runner-up Geoffrey Esper and the rest of the 15 competitive eaters by double digits to clinch his eighth straight Mustard Belt and 16th overall at the eating competition.
The annual contest on Coney Island drew competitors from England, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Brazil, and Australia.
Miki Sudo, the defending champion in the women’s side of the contest, ate 39½ hot dogs and buns to win her ninth Mustard Belt before rainfall delayed the men’s competition by about two hours.
39-year-old Chestnut from Westfield, Indiana, first competed for Nathan’s title in 2005 and hasn’t lost it since 2015.
Chestnut won the title last year after eating 63 hot dogs and buns last year, despite an interruption from a man who came up on stage, wearing a Darth Vader costume. Chestnut put him in a headlock before security took over.
Chestnut had his greatest fill in 2021 when he consumed 76 hot dogs.
Sudo surpassed Mayoi Ebihara’s 33½ hot dogs in 10 minutes in a women’s event that seemed to be much closer until the final count was announced. The unofficial real-time counter showed the two leaders tied throughout much of the competition. A final count of plates gave the final winner.
However, the 37-year-old was disappointed in her total. She was nine hot dogs short of her breaking her all-time high. She said watching Ebihara’s was the reason.
“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, of Port Richey, Florida, said after the competition. “Watching her, I fumbled my hands. I got stuck with a big burp early on but was able to correct.”
