NEW YORK — It was the Fourth of July in New York City, and for some, that meant only one thing. It was time for the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island.
The contest has long been a holiday mainstay in New York, and its worldwide television exposure has made celebrities of its most famous champions. But this year’s event, which tests “competitive eaters” on how many hot dogs they can scarf down in 10 minutes, crowned a new men’s champion for the first time in almost a generation.
Patrick Bertoletti, 26, from Chicago, snagged the men’s title — or, in the parlance of Coney Island, the Mustard Belt — by eating 58 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
The former men’s champion, Joey Chestnut, 40, won the competition 16 times but was barred from entering. Bertoletti was the ninth-ranked eater before the competition, according to Major League Eating.
He described winning as a life-changing event.
“With Joey not here I knew I had a shot,” he said, referring to Chestnut. “I was able to unlock something and I don’t know where it came from.”
Chestnut parted ways with the contest last month after he signed an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods, a rival to Nathan’s that makes vegan hot dogs.
But he loomed large over Thursday’s proceedings.
At the women’s contest on Thursday, Miki Sudo, 38, easily won that title for the 10th time, besting a group of competitors, some of whom traveled to Coney Island from as far as Japan and South Korea.
She ate 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes, setting a women’s record and exceeding her 2023 total of 39.5 hot dogs. The runner-up, Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, ate 37 hot dogs.
After winning, Sudo thanked her family and the dental school in Tampa, Florida, where she is studying to be dental hygienist, and reflected on the pressures of being a mother, a student and world famous hot dog eater.
“You feel like you’re juggling,” she said. “You try your best to balance everything.”
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