Hot diggety dog! Joey Chestnut wins Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in return
Chestnut won his 17th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, and Miki Sudo won the women's competition to take home her 11th career title.
by Mike Gavin · 5 NBCDFWJoey Chestnut is once again top dog.
The competitive-eating icon returned to Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest after being banned from last year’s competition and ate his way to a 17th career victory at the annual Fourth of July event in Coney Island, New York.
The 41-year-old from Indiana relished the moment by eating 70.5 hot dogs in the 10-minute event — during which contestants chow down as many hot dogs and buns as possible, often soaking them in water to soften them.
The king of consumption cruised to victory, but he didn't walk away from the table entirely satisfied.
"I wish I ate a couple more, I'm sorry guys," Chestnut told ESPN after the win. "But yeah, I'll be back next year."
Chestnut downed 11 hot dogs in the opening minute. At the halfway mark of the event, he had eaten 46 and averaged a pace of over nine hot dogs per minute to take an 18-dog lead over the next best eater. With one minute remaining, he had a total of 64 hot dogs and was comfortably in front by 22.
“Oh, my gosh, I was nervous,” Chestnut said. “First couple of hot dogs I was fumbling a little bit, but I found a pretty good rhythm. My goal was 70 to 77, I really wanted a little bit more.”
He takes home $10,000 and the coveted Mustard Belt, a WWE-like bedazzled championship belt with the Nathan's logo on it.
Chestnut bested 14 fellow competitors from across the U.S. and internationally, including Australia, the Czech Republic, Ontario, England and Brazil.
He topped defending champion Patrick Bertoletti, of Chicago, who ate 46.5 hot dogs to finish in second place.
Bertoletti won the title in 2024 with a total of 58 hot dogs when Chestnut was banned due to a partnership with Impossible Foods, a plant-based rival of Nathan's. Chestnut announced in June on social media that he would be making his return for his 20th appearance, matching Eric "Badlands" Booker for most all time.
Chestnut, who holds 55 world eating records, was unable to break his own Nathan's record of 76 hot dogs during the 2021 contest. He added to his grand total of hot dogs consumed over 20 appearances in the competition, which is now 1,289.
Chestnut has won 16 of the 19 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests he has competed in. He finished third in his 2005 debut with 32 hot dogs and second in 2006 with 52 hot dogs. He then won eight consecutive contests before getting upset in 2015 by Matt Stonie, who ate 62 hot dogs to Chestnut's 60.
Chestnut won another eight straight contests between 2016 and 2023 before being banned from the 2024 competition.
He has now started a new streak as top dog.
“I love being here,” Chestnut told ESPN. “As soon as I found out I was coming, my body, it was easy to train, and I love doing it. I love pushing myself and eating the heck out of people.”
Miki Sudo wins 11th women's title in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest
Miki Sudo, the Joey Chestnut of women's competitive eating, extended her hot dog dynasty.
In the women's competition for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest earlier Friday, Sudo captured her 11th career victory and fourth straight. The 39-year-old from Tampa finished well short of the record she set last year by eating 51 hot dogs, but she downed 33 to comfortably claim her 11th win in 12 years.
Sudo remains undefeated in the event, with the only year she did not claim the title in that stretch being 2021 when she did not compete because she was pregnant with a bun in the oven.
Sudo topped Michelle Lesco, the 2021 champ, who ate 22 3/4 hot dogs.
“I feel like I let the fans down a little bit. I heard people in the crowd saying, ‘Go for 52,’” Sudo told ESPN after the event. “Obviously, I’m always setting my goals high, but the hot dogs weren’t cooperating. For some reason, the buns felt larger today.”