It took 10 minutes and 62 hot dogs for Joey Chestnut to win his fifth consecutive Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island.
Retaining the Mustard Yellow Belt once again, Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., has dominated the competition. In 2009, he set the all-time record, downing 68 hot dogs and buns, the equivalent of 21,000 calories, in ten minutes.
The 96th annual hot dog eating contest brought out thousands to the corner of Stillwell and Surf Avenues in front of the original Nathan's Famous hot dog stand to witness a spectacle of spittle so gross one can't help but watch.
The scene was reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, there was a man in a Dr. Seuss hat on stilts, a dancing plush hot dog and two two guys in orange tank tops bouncing on a trampoline. Many spectators came in their July 4th finest, there were men wrapped in American flags chanting "USA, USA!" and women wearing red, white and blue bikinis.
For the first time this year, Nathan's sponsored separate competitions for men and women. 100-pound Sonya Thomas of Alexandria, Va., took the title in the first ever competition for women, eating 40 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes, one shy of her 2009 record. She never stopped moving during the contest, constantly bouncing and twisting her way to victory. She shoved hot dogs in her mouth with one hand, while cradling a cup of liquid to wash them down with the other.
Thomas also known as "The Black Widow," was the odds-on favorite going into the contest, in 2009 she set the women's record by eating 41 hot dogs and buns during the joint competition.
The contest requires eaters to consume the entire hot dog and bun and any "reversal of fortune," Major League Eating's term for vomiting, results in an automatic disqualification.
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