Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Crowns New Winner After Joey Chestnut's Conflict with Plant-Based Brand

With Joey Chestnut out of the running, Nathan’s Famous International Men’s Hot Dog Eating Championship has made way for a new winner.

Pat Bertoletti has officially been named the Hot Dog Eating Champion after eating 58 hot dogs and buns within 10 minutes, a new personal best. Geoffrey Esper took second place with 43 hot dogs and pastries.

In the women’s competition, Miki Sudo, known as the Queen of Food, won the title. She ate 51 hot dogs and pastries and thus set a new women’s record!

In second place is Mayoi Ebihar with 37 hot dogs and pastries, while in third place is Michelle Lesco with 23.5.

The event took place at New York’s Coney Island on Thursday, July 4, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Both the men’s and women’s competitions have prize money of $20,000.

Miki Sudo celebrates after winning the women’s title during the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York on July 4, 2024.

LEONARDO MUNOZ/AFP via Getty

The men’s competition has only had three champions since 2002: Chestnut, Matthew Stonie and Takeru Kobayashi. Chestnut previously competed in every event since 2007, winning from 2007 to 2014 and then from 2016 to 2023. He lost to Matt Stonie in 2015.

In 2023, Chestnut won his 16th title by winning 62 hot dogs. Geoffrey Esper took second place with a 49, followed closely by Australia’s James Webb, who was third with a 47.

On June 11, Major League Eating, the competition’s governing body, announced that Chestnut would not compete in the 2024 event due to his partnership with Impossible Foods.

Joey Chestnut still eats hot dogs year-round: ‘It’s rare that I don’t have them in my fridge’

Joey Chestnut.

Anthony Behar/Sipa USA

“We are dismayed to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a competing plant-based hot dog brand instead of competing in Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2024,” Major League Eating said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

Later that day, Chestnut shared a post on Instagram expressing his disappointment and disputing Major League Eating’s claim that the contest’s sponsorship rules were the same as previous years.

“I love competing in that event, I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country 4. and I’ve been training to defend my title,” he wrote in the caption. “To set the record straight, I am not under contract with MLE or Nathan and they want to change the rules from last years regarding other partners I can work with.”

Takeru Kobayashi describes what competitive eating does to his body: ‘My lungs move up’

In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Impossible Foods said, “We love Joey and support him in whatever competition he chooses. It’s okay to experiment with a new dog. Carnivores shouldn’t be exclusive to just one dog.”

Chestnut will compete against longtime rival Kobayashi, a six-time winner of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, in an all-beef hot dog eating contest called Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished beef. The special will air live on Netflix on September 2nd.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education