NEW YORK – Patrick Bertoletti gobbled up 58 hot dogs to win the title of first person in Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July annual hot dog eating contest, taking advantage of the presence of the show’s biggest stars. In the women’s competition, defending champion Miki Sudo won her 10th title and set a new world record by breaking 51 links.
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, the men’s champion and winner of 16 of the previous 17 competitions, did not participate this year due to sponsorship. But he competed during the day against four soldiers at a US Army base in El Paso, Texas, where he downed 57 hot dogs in five minutes.
Bertoletti, 39, Chicago, won the tight, 10-minute race where the leader bounced back and forth, defeating 13 competitors from around the world. He said he lost weight and trained for three months “urgently” to prepare for the event, because he had a chance to win.
“With Joey not being here, I know I’m taken,” Bertoletti said. “I can open a key that I don’t know where it came from.”
Bertoletti beat the previous record of 55 hot dogs in the event, which is held every Independence Day in New York’s Coney Island, a beach destination with amusement parks and summer culture of carnivales.
Earlier, in the women’s competition, Sudo, a 38-year-old dental hygiene student from Florida, once again carried the day and set a new record one year after forcing down 39 1/2 hot dogs in 2023.
“I’m just happy to call this mine for another year,” Sudo said after winning the pink belt.
Sudo beat 13 competitors, including 28-year-old Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, who finished second after eating 37 hot dogs. He is also the runner-up in 2023.
Sudo also beat his partner, former Florida bodybuilder Nicholas Wehry, who ate 46 hot dogs in the men’s competition.
Bertoletti’s win marks the first time the famous mustard belt has gone to someone other than Chestnut since 2015.
Thousands of fans, some wearing foam hot dog hats, gather each year for the event held outside the original Nathan’s Coney Island location. Rich Shea, CEO of event organizer Major League Eating, noted how people still came out despite Chestnut’s absence.
“Only good competitors, good people, mature people, and people who choose not to be here,” he said of the popular eating champion on ESPN. “But luckily for us, tens of thousands of people flock to Nathan’s Famous. It’s a pilgrimage every year. These aren’t Hollywood people getting paid.”
Competitors come from more than a dozen countries and five continents, with prospects from Brazil, Japan, England, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic vying for the coveted title and $10,000 in prize money.
Last year Chestnut, from Indiana, chewed his way to the title by downing 62 dogs and bread in 10 minutes. The record, set in 2021, is 76.
Chestnut was initially disinvited from the event due to a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, which specializes in plant-based meat substitutes and advertised on ESPN during Thursday’s event.
The Major League Eats began to say that it would lift the ban, but Chestnut decided to take a vacation with the troops. Chestnut said he would never return to the Coney Island pageant without an apology.
The event in El Paso was held at an Army base that was not easily accessible to the public. Instead, several hundred fans showed up to support Chestnut, some dressed in hot dog costumes and others wearing T-shirts that read, “Let Joey eat.” Chestnut’s total of 57 defeated four Fort Bliss soldiers, who ate a combined 49.
Before the event, Chestnut expressed his fear that he would not be able to perform well without the support of the large and boisterous Coney Island crowd. But afterward he said he had achieved “record-setting speed.”
“I love you,” Chestnut told fans at Fort Bliss after acknowledging the military service of his father, grandfather and brother. “You pushed me so hard, thank you so much.”
The event is sponsored by Impossible Foods, although their vegan products are not used in the competition. Company CEO Peter McGuinness appeared on stage with Chestnut and representatives from Operation Homefront, a charity that supports military families. He presented the organization with a $106,000 donation check; $1,000 for every hot dog eaten.
Chestnut will next compete against pro rival Takeru Kobayashi on September 2nd in a head-to-head Netflix special.
