Ravenous return: Fast-chewing Joey Chestnut wins July 4th hot dog contest
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Mr Joey Chestnut wins the men's competition at Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2025 in New York City.
PHOTO: AFP
NEW YORK - Competitive eater Joey Chestnut recaptured his title at the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest on July 4 in Brooklyn, downing 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes in the July 4th holiday classic.
The 41-year-old American missed 2024’s event after signing a deal with Impossible Foods, whose plant-based products include hot dogs, but he was allowed to enter in 2025 and made his Coney Island comeback a triumphant one.
Mr Chestnut won by 24 hot dogs over 2024’s winner, Mr Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago, but the maestro of mastication could not break his own record of 76 hot dogs that he consumed in 2021.
It marked the 17th time Mr Chestnut claimed the “Mustard Belt” symbolic of supremacy in the gastronomic showdown and his ninth triumph in 10 years.
“Oh my gosh, I was nervous,” Mr Chestnut told event telecaster ESPN after his victory. “First couple of hot dogs, I was fumbling a little bit, but I found a pretty good rhythm.”
Mr Chestnut said that despite his blowout triumph, he was hoping to make a better show of challenging his record consumption total.
“My goal was 70 to 77,” he said. “I really wanted a little bit more. There’s next year and I’m just happy I’m here.”
On the women’s side, American Miki Sudo won by eating 33 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, her 11th victory in the past 12 years, with American Michelle Lesco second on 22.75 dogs and buns.
Ms Sudo, who set the women’s record of 51 in 2024 did not compete in 2021 while pregnant, with Ms Lesco winning that year. AFP
