Chestnut demolishes field in the annual Coney Island contest. Sonya 'The Black Widow' Thomas narrowly wins the women's contest
By Casey Tolan AND Stephen Rex Brown
Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
Master of Ceremonies George Shea screams as Joey "Jaws" Chestnut sets a
new record and wins the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating
Contest in Coney Island with a new world record of 69 hot dogs and buns
in 10 minutes. The win gave Chestnut seven titles in a row, another
record.
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut
again gorged his way into history Thursday, winning his seventh
consecutive Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating championship in Coney Island by
scarfing 69 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes — a new world record.
The previous record was 68, which was set last year by Chestnut.
“I almost started crying for a second. I'm happy as heck!” said Chestnut, 29, basking in his postprandial achievement.
"Things came together today. The hot dogs were really good. It wasn't too hot."
Just as the crowd of 40,000 at Surf And Stillwell Aves. expected, Chestnut devoured the competition.
Matt "Megatoad" Stonie challenged the champ early, but came in second
place with a mere 51 HDBs. Stonie learned the same lesson as countless
other Chestnut challengers: Competitive eating is a marathon, not a
sprint.
Chestnut generally keeps his secrets hidden, but earlier in the week, the California native told the Daily News he would wolf down wieners in a “smarter” fashion — minimizing his movements and pacing himself as he dunked the bread in water forced the dogs down his gullet.
And as the clock hit 10 minutes, the crowd went crazy.
"It is an art, it is a poem, it is a prayer that he's executing right now!" shouted George Shea, the chairman of Major League Eating, the governing body of all stomach-centric sports.
Saliva, sweat, water, and hot dog detritus mixed at Chestnut’s feet as he hoisted the Mustard Yellow International Belt to the heavens yet again.
The victory gave Chestnut one more consecutive wins than Takeru “The
Tsunami” Kobayashi, whose reign Chestnut ended with a still-legendary 66
HDB performance in 2007, when the contest was still 12 minutes.
Lindsay Herzog, 23, who flew from Chicago specifically for the contest, was mesmerized by the slovenly champ. She’d been in the audience for all seven of his victories.
“The first time I came here was Joey Chestnut’s first competition,” said Herzog. “I was hooked.”
Chestnut’s victory was treated like a foregone conclusion — he was carried to the stage in a mustard-colored, Roman-style sedan chair.
Fans speculated how the contestants must feel after ingesting so much pork product.
“They're probably thinking, ‘I never want to see another hot dog again!’” said Renee Mas, 32, from Wantagh, L.I.
But Chestnut told the News this week that he does not intend to retire, saying, “Seven is not the end. Ten is looking more and more likely.”
Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas won the women’s contest — but narrowly — eating 36 and three-quarters hot dogs and buns to Juliet Lee’s 36 HDBs. The 100-pound Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., has won the women’s contest for all three years.
Her count was much lower than last year, when Thomas broke her own record by eating 45 hot dogs and buns.
Each Nathan’s Famous hot dog and bun has 290 calories, 17 grams of fat and 710 milligrams of sodium. A normal American — not a gustatory gladiator — is supposed to consume 2,000 calories a day, and no more than 200 grams of fat or 2,300 milligrams of salt.
Doing the math, Chestnut ate 20,010 calories, 1,173 grams of fat and 48,990 miligrams of sodium.
The previous record was 68, which was set last year by Chestnut.
“I almost started crying for a second. I'm happy as heck!” said Chestnut, 29, basking in his postprandial achievement.
"Things came together today. The hot dogs were really good. It wasn't too hot."
Just as the crowd of 40,000 at Surf And Stillwell Aves. expected, Chestnut devoured the competition.
Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
And in the women's contest, Sonya Thomas (right with Shea raising her hand) won with an underwhelming (for her) 36 HDBs.
Chestnut generally keeps his secrets hidden, but earlier in the week, the California native told the Daily News he would wolf down wieners in a “smarter” fashion — minimizing his movements and pacing himself as he dunked the bread in water forced the dogs down his gullet.
And as the clock hit 10 minutes, the crowd went crazy.
"It is an art, it is a poem, it is a prayer that he's executing right now!" shouted George Shea, the chairman of Major League Eating, the governing body of all stomach-centric sports.
Saliva, sweat, water, and hot dog detritus mixed at Chestnut’s feet as he hoisted the Mustard Yellow International Belt to the heavens yet again.
Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
Before the contest, Chestnut was carried in on a mustard-colored bier.
Lindsay Herzog, 23, who flew from Chicago specifically for the contest, was mesmerized by the slovenly champ. She’d been in the audience for all seven of his victories.
“The first time I came here was Joey Chestnut’s first competition,” said Herzog. “I was hooked.”
Chestnut’s victory was treated like a foregone conclusion — he was carried to the stage in a mustard-colored, Roman-style sedan chair.
Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
In the end, Chestnut held his trophy high over the crowd of 30,000.
“They're probably thinking, ‘I never want to see another hot dog again!’” said Renee Mas, 32, from Wantagh, L.I.
But Chestnut told the News this week that he does not intend to retire, saying, “Seven is not the end. Ten is looking more and more likely.”
Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas won the women’s contest — but narrowly — eating 36 and three-quarters hot dogs and buns to Juliet Lee’s 36 HDBs. The 100-pound Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., has won the women’s contest for all three years.
Her count was much lower than last year, when Thomas broke her own record by eating 45 hot dogs and buns.
Each Nathan’s Famous hot dog and bun has 290 calories, 17 grams of fat and 710 milligrams of sodium. A normal American — not a gustatory gladiator — is supposed to consume 2,000 calories a day, and no more than 200 grams of fat or 2,300 milligrams of salt.
Doing the math, Chestnut ate 20,010 calories, 1,173 grams of fat and 48,990 miligrams of sodium.
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