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The legend of Joey Chestnut continues.
Chestnut is now an 18-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion after blowing away the competition once again, this time by gobbling down 66 hot dogs and buns at Coney Island.
This is now the 10th time in a row that Chestnut has won the competition; he was excluded from the 2024 event due to sponsorship issues.
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Joey Chestnut wins the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest by eating 70.5 hot dogs at Coney Island on July 4, 2025 in New York. (Bobby Bank/Getty Images)
Chestnut didn’t run away from the start, as he was neck and neck with 2024 champion Patrick Bertoletti and James Webb for the first 90 seconds.
But once that time passed, Chestnut began to drift away from the competition. In three minutes, Chestnut was at 28, while Webb was 22 and Bertoletti was 21. But by the halfway point, Chestnut had eaten 42 hot dogs and had a lead of 10 sausages.
Joey Chestnut prepares to compete in the men’s competition at Nathan’s annual hot dog eating contest on July 4, 2025 in New York. Joey Chestnut makes his return to the famous Nathan’s Fourth of July hot dog eating contest to compete for a 17th victory after missing the 2024 event due to a sponsorship dispute with Major League Eating. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
JOEY CHESTNUT REVEALS THE FOODS HE WON’T EAT IN COMPETITION AS HE TURNS MINOR LEAGUE STADIUMS FOR LOCAL DELIGHTS
Chestnut remained at a record pace (76) with four minutes remaining, but as in all eating contests, fatigue and full stomachs set in to accompany near-triple-digit heat. Chestnut reached the 60 mark with 60 seconds left, and officials then counted his 66.
He admitted he knew he wouldn’t get the record early on, but he stayed calm to take the win.
Chestnut attended the event while serving a 180-day probation sentence after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from a drunken slap on a man at an Indiana bar earlier this year. He was granted permission to travel to New York for the event.
Joey Chestnut wins the men’s competition at the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York on July 4, 2025. He returned to compete for a 17th victory after missing the 2024 event due to a sponsorship dispute with Major League Eating. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
Miki Sudo won the women’s event earlier in the day with 39 dogs and buns; she won each of the 12 competitions she entered, first coming back in 2014.
