Joey Chestnut, Miki Sudo defend titles at Fourth of July hot dog eating contest
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut ate 71 wieners and buns to secure his 12th title at Nathan's Famous annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest on Thursday, just a few hot dogs shy of breaking the record he set last year. In front of a crowd of fans and facing 17 opponents, the California native far exceeded his nearest competitors, but didn't quite make or pass the 74-dog record he set in 2018.
When asked how he felt after the contest, Chestnut said, "I feel like I should eat a couple more." In the morning, Miki Sudo won the women's competition by chomping down 31 hot dogs.
She said she felt "wonderful" as she walked off the stage. The 33-year-old fell short of her total last year of 37 frankfurters but earned her sixth consecutive title by easily beating runner-up Michelle Lesco, who wolfed down 26 hot dogs.
Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas holds the all-time women's record of 45 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Chesnut and Sudo will each take home $10,000.
Spectators with foam hot dog hats, plastic noisemakers and homemade signs descended on Coney Island's famed boardwalk for the contest. The annual eat-off started in 1972, though the company has long promoted the event with a theatrical backstory that places its start date in 1916.
Chestnut has only lost once since 2007, when he pulled ahead of longtime foe Takeru Kobayashi for the first time. An ESPN documentary released Tuesday features the two former rivals and their extreme training regimens.
"It's not something that there's books written about," Chestnut said in the film, which shows him lifting his head up and down with a weight dangling from his mouth. "There's not trainers. Everything's trial and error."
Kobayashi no longer takes part in the contest. Matt Stonie, who won in 2015, also competed Thursday.