It wasn’t quite Willis Reed limping onto the court before Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals and inspiring the New York Knicks to a championship-clinching victory, but Joey “Johns” Chestnut overcame adversity to win Game 15 his record title. Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut, who arrived at Monday’s annual event on crutches with his lower right leg in a cast, downed 63 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. That was 13 short of the record 76 he broke last year, but it was more than enough for the 38-year-old to hold off his nearest competition, Geoffrey Esper, who finished with 47½. Miki Sudo won her eighth women’s title earlier in the day. “It hurts when I walk, but I can stand and I can eat, and I’m going to push it to the limit,” Chestnut, who recently injured a tendon in his leg while running, told ESPN before the contest. Chestnut opened an 11-hot dog lead three minutes into Monday’s event and captured his seventh straight title since being upset by Matt Stonie in 2015. He wasn’t fazed by a person in a Darth Vader mask pushing his way to front of the stage and opened a sign next to him in the middle of the competition. Chestnut put the interloper into a brief chokehold before returning his attention to the hot dogs on the table in front of him. As ESPN helpfully pointed out, Chestnut has now won one more championship yellow belt (15) than Rafael Nadal has won French Open titles. Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi won the next most Nathan’s Famous hot dog titles with six consecutive titles from 2001 to 2006. The Independence Day spectacle, which began in 1916, returned to Nathan’s flagship in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood for the first time since 2019. In 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the pageant was held privately and without spectators. Last year’s event was held at the home field of the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones with limited attendance. “We’re back! We’re back!” Major League Eating announcer George Shea shouted before the contest began in front of a large crowd at the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues. “It’s nice to be back here in front of this crowd,” Chestnut said after winning his 15th hot dog eating title in the past 16 years. “New York is amazing and there is no place like it in the world.” Sudo, who missed last year’s event because she was pregnant, won her eighth women’s title by eating 40 hot dogs and buns. Michelle Lesco, who won the 2021 title, finished second. Sudo holds the women’s record with 48½ hot dogs devoured in 2020, when she captured her seventh straight title. “I knew I was excited to be back, but the feeling you get when you’re actually here is like nothing else,” Sudo told ESPN. Sudo, 36, met her husband, fellow competitor Nick Wehry, at the hot dog eating contest in 2018. Wehry was holding the couple’s son, Max, who turns one on Friday, while Sudo she regained her title on Monday. Wehry later competed in the men’s division. Miki Sudo is a seven-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Champion. Nick Wehry is the fourth ranked competitive eater in the world. Meet the married couple who continue to break competitive diet records. pic.twitter.com/zuYS0ny8qp — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 4, 2022
