As foretold, it was hot AF on the East Coast this weekend. I set my alarm early each morning to take My Guy out for a stroll when temps were cooler (at 89 Fahrenheit), and even he agreed with me on taking shorter routes. Then it was back to our beloved air conditioning. When you’re an athlete, though, you can’t always escape the heat. Especially if your sporting event only happens once a year. Such was the case for the parboiled partakers of Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, held outdoors in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The contest has a men’s and women’s division held consecutively (ladies first), and it was already in the 90s when proceedings started at 10:30am. All they had to do to cook the hot dogs was take ‘em outside! Nyuck nyuck. As expected, returning champs Miki Sudo and Joey Chestnut proved victorious earning their 12th and 18th titles for 38.75 and 66 dogs downed, respectively. Yet even though they came, they saw, they devoured, both winners felt the heat, as they later told press:
“Celebrating America’s 250th, it was a big year to have a good performance, and it was wonderful to celebrate with everybody,” Ms. Sudo said.
…Ms. Sudo pressed her mouth against her arm while she chewed and swallowed her dozens of dogs. As the clock ran down and Ms. Sudo was announced the victor, the audience let out a stream of applause and screams, reaching a fever pitch as their champion lifted up her mustard belt in victory.
In an interview following the contest, Ms. Sudo admitted that the heat wave was an added element, but one she could manage.
“Being from Florida, I think I was a little more prepared than everybody else,” she said, “but this humidity is not the easiest to compete in.”
George Shea, the bombastic master of ceremonies, acknowledged that the heat might have slowed down some of the female competitors. But it grew only hotter as the men prepared to take the stage about an hour and a half later.
Halfway through the men’s contest, it appeared as though Mr. Chestnut was on pace to break the record, with 40 hot dogs under his belt. But it was not to be. The heat challenged him, he said, and he slowed as he reached the finish with 66 hot dogs eaten overall.
“I don’t want to go into it saying it’s going to affect me, I want to go in trying to convince myself I can work through it,” Mr. Chestnut said of the heat. “I didn’t want to let it bother me. I didn’t want to push it. Because if I push it, things get stuck in my throat.”
The elusive record of 77 stands, the dream deferred for yet another July 4. The 76 hot dogs that make up Mr. Chestnut’s existing record measure over 40 feet in length, about half the height of the Coney Island Cyclone’s peak.
With all that eating behind him, Mr. Chestnut was not quite satiated after the competition on Saturday. Mr. Chestnut, who has also participated in cherry pie and Twinkie eating competitions, said after the hot dog race that he was looking to snag something cold to eat on the boardwalk for dessert.
Only 66?! This Chestnut is roasted! His 76-dog record was set in 2021 with Nathan’s, but that’s not Joey’s personal best. As my fellow sports fans will recall, in 2024 Joey was BANNED by Nathan’s and Major League Eating from participating in the contest over allegations that Joey violated “basic hot dog exclusivity provisions” through a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, who sell plant-based hog dogs. So instead, that year Joey took his vacuous stomach to a Labor Day eat-off Netflix put on between Joey and longtime rival Takeru Kobayashi. That’s where Joey downed his record-breaking 82 hot dogs, prompting the earnest and emotional statement: “I’ve been trying to hit 80 dogs for years.” So to slink back down to 66 links, well, this champ is lucky that was enough to cut the mustard for the Mustard Belt this year. And before anyone says, “But Kismet, it was a major heatwave and he did what was healthy,” may I remind you this is a HOT DOG EATING CONTEST — anyone who enters, by definition, is agreeing to not care about their health for at least 10 minutes! However, for the sake of keeping the game competitive, I will concede that maybe the proceedings should be moved indoors. Either that or move July 4 to another date, take your pick.
Photos are screenshots from ESPN and Wired YouTube videos and via Instagram/Joey Chestnut