14th time, Joey Chestnut won again.
Chestnut set another record-breaking win on Sunday, claiming his 14th Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest triumph after devouring a total of 76 hot dogs and buns within ten minutes. Last year, he chowed down a total of 75 hot dogs in an event missed live by fans because of the current pandemic.
“It just felt good,” Chestnut, who is from Westfield, Indiana, shared to ESPN after his win. “Even if I was uncomfortable, having everybody cheer me and push me, it made me feel good.”
Tucson, Arizona’s Michelle Lesco, meanwhile, ate 30 ¾ hot dogs in the same amount of time. She grabbed the women’s title and described her win as 10 “an amazing feeling.”
Social media users, who witnessed the event on screen, went into turmoil as the ESPN broadcast encountered some difficulty and went frozen when Chestnut was about to crash his own record.
Usually, the yearly Fourth of July frankfurter fest is celebrated in the Coney Island neighborhood in Brooklyn, just outside the flagship shop of Nations. But because of the pandemic restrictions, the event this year was celebrated in a basketball stadium in Maimonides Park, gathering a 5, 000 audience.
In 2020, the event was not able to have live spectators and was just held indoors amid the health crisis.
The hot dog eating champion said he missed the fans last year, according to a report by Fox News.
“I’ve been looking forward to this all year,” Chestnut said in an interview with ESPN before he competed this year.
