Joey Chestnut wins Coney Island Hot Dog-Eating Contest, breaks own world record

Reigning hot dog-eating champion Joey Chestnut held on to his title Sunday amid the cheers of voracious fans hungry for the return of the annual competition at Coney Island.

The champ gobbled down 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes, topping by one wiener his own world record, set last year, to win the annual Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog-Eating Contest. It was Chestnut’s 14th victory in 15 years.

“I feel like I could eat a little more,” the seemingly insatiable Chestnut, 37, said afterward, although he admitted feeling “a little bloated.”

“I’m just superhappy,” he said. “In the second half, the crowd pushed me.”

Competitive eater Joey Chestnut, left, competes in the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn on July 4. (Andrew Schwartz/)

He beat the second-place finisher, Geoffrey Esper, the No. 2-ranked eater in the world, by a whopping 26 wieners.

Fans of the contest were celebrating its return to its Brooklyn home after pandemic restrictions forced a venue change for last year’s event, which had no live audience.

One onlooker seeing the contest for the first time in person was Princeton, N.J., resident Tabitha Bellamy, 45, who says she baby-sat Chestnut when he was young.

“I’m absolutely amazed. I’m so proud,” said Bellamy, who said Chestnut was a “very, very rambunctious child.”

Competitive eater Joey Chestnut holds 76 hot dogs after winning the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island on Sunday. (Andrew Schwartz/)

“This was a great way to celebrate,” she added. “I was just feeling the electricity and positivity from the crowd.”

Mayor de Blasio was on hand, wearing a hot dog-shaped hat, to congratulate and share his insights: “It is a dog-eat-dog world … we should relish this moment!”

The winner of the women’s division, Michelle Lesco of Tucson, downed 30 and three-quarter hot dogs, including a piece she dropped on the ground but picked up and ate nonetheless to cheers from the crowd.

“I feel awesome,” she said, adding, “The crowd was crazy.”

Competitive eater Michelle Lesco competes in the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island on Sunday. (Andrew Schwartz/)

Valerie and Jason Gagnon, both 45, brought their two kids, ages 8 and 5, for a first-time in-person look at the show. The family moved to the area from Florida last year.

“We’re celebrating getting out of the house,” the mom said. “This is a New York Fourth of July staple. We’re excited.”

Lesco, 37, the women’s winner and a schoolteacher, said it was hard to train while locked down by COVID.

“It was really stressful,” she said. “It’s hard to motivate yourself at home.”

Competitive eater Joey Chestnut celebrates winning the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. (Andrew Schwartz/)

Last year’s women’s victor, Miko Sudo, is pregnant and opted to skip the contest, Nathan’s said. Sudo has won the coveted Mustard Belt seven times.

Making his debut as a hot dog mascot this year was Billy Cancal, 30, a performance artist and poet living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

“This is my first year,” he said. “It’s a big responsibility. “I think there will be a lot of hungry people this year … hungry for the Fourth of July, hungry for ketchup, mustard, relish.”

The crowd at Maimonides Park stadium cheers for Competitive eater Joey Chestnut at the Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island on Sunday. (Andrew Schwartz/)

Damon Schmitt traveled from northwest Ohio to see the contest for the first time and to celebrate his 30th birthday, which also was on Sunday.

“It’s been on my bucket list forever,” he said of the contest. “We watch it every year, it’s a tradition. But it’s our first year in person.”

Fan Jesse Correali, 23, of Staten Island, said she came especially to root for Chestnut.

“I have a poster of him in my room,” she said.

Dennis Fulton, 29, trekked down from Manhattan’s Upper East Side to watch the gulping festivities.

“I can’t do it,” he said of the competitive gorging. “But I admire people who can.”