By TR Robertson
What has become an unusual tradition for the beginning of the Fourth of July day is watching ESPN’s presentation of Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest that takes place in Coney Island. Even more unusual and amazing is that thirty-nine-year-old Joey Chestnut has won eight straight Nathan’s Famous events and sixteen overall. This year’s contest was delayed for two hours due to lightning in the area. The traditional hot dog eating contest has been observed, for the most part, since 1972. The opening of the contest featured the women’s event, won for the ninth time by Miki Sudo, consuming thirty-nine and one-half hot dogs. The delay for the men’s event happened at the end of the women’s contest. The men’s portion of the contest was almost cancelled, but a strong crowd response and Joey Chestnut wanting the event to continue, led to Joey Chestnut once again winning the title. He had wanted to beat his own record of 76 hot dogs consumed, set in 2021. This year he dipped 62 hot dogs with buns in waterl in ten minutes to win the Mustard Yellow Belt awarded to the winner, fourteen more than his closest competitor out of a field of fifteen. He fell short of his goal, partially because of the delay in the event and the emotion surrounding the almost cancellation of the contest. One amazing statistic about the number of hot dogs he ate is that the 62 hot dogs and the bread represents around 18,000 calories consumed in 10 minutes, six times the recommended daily caloric intake for men his age. Chestnut is thirty-nine and weighs 230 pounds.
This incredible accomplishment is but one of the 55 World Records Chestnut holds. Pointing out some of the records he holds for eating in these timed contests includes the most Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Taco Bell Tacos, Meat Pies, Hard Boiled Eggs, Deep Fried Asparagus Spears, Philly Cheesesteaks, Funnel Cake, Jalapeno Poppers, Twinkies, Tamales, Gumbo, Ice-Cream Sandwiches, Pepperoni Rolls, Eggo Style Waffles, Burritos, Raman Noodles, and many more. Go online for a complete list of his titles which will include the exact number of each item, where the event was held or the title of the contest, the length of the particular contest and the date he set the record.
Here’s hoping you had a Safe and Happy Fourth of July and enjoyed some great hot dogs with all the trimmings, hopefully not 62 of them.
