With 17-time winner Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut absent from the competition, the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Championship men’s contest made room for a new winner.
Pat Bertoletti, 39 years old from the southside of Chicago, was officially named the hot dog eating champion after devouring 58 hot dogs and buns within 10 minutes, a new career high. Geoffrey Esper, from Massachusetts, who was the oldest participant in the competition at 49 placed second with 53 hot dogs and buns.
“I wasn’t going to stop eating until the job was done,” Bertoletti said.
Earlier Thursday, in the women’s competition, Miki Sudo of Florida, known as the ‘Empress of Eating’, captured her 10th title. She put away 51 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, setting a new women’s record. She has won every competition she has competed in.
“I’m just happy to call this mine for another year,” Sudo said after winning her 10th pink belt.
The 38-year-old dental hygiene student won in 2023 after powering through 39 ½ hot dogs.
Sudo also vanquished a tough field of 13 competitors, including 28-year-old rival Mayoi Ebihara of Japan. Ebihara was the runner up after eating 37 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. She also claimed second place in 2023. Sudo’s close friend, Michelle Lesco rounded out the top three with 23.5.
The event took place on New York’s Coney Island on Thursday, July 4, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. There were 10,000 spectators looking on. Both the men’s and women’s competitions carry a $20,000 cash prize.
The men’s competition has only had a trio of champions since 2002: Chestnut, Matthew Stonie and Takeru Kobayashi. Previously, Chestnut had competed in every contest since 2007, winning from 2007 to 2014 and then continued his dominance from 2016 until 2023. He was defeated by Stonie in 2015.
In 2023, Chestnut earned his 16th title, devouring 62 hot dogs. Esper placed second by eating 49, closely followed by Australian James Webb, who came in third with 47.
Embed from Getty ImagesOn June 11, Major League Eating, the contest’s governing body, announced that Chestnut would not be permitted to compete in the 2024 event due to his partnership with a plant-based company, Impossible Foods.
“We are devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than competing in the 2024 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest,” Major League Eating said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
Later that day, Chestnut shared a social media post expressing his heartbreaking disappointment and disputing Major League Eating’s claim that the contest’s sponsorship rules were the same as in previous years.
“I love competing in that event, I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country on the 4th and I have been training to defend my title,” he wrote in the caption. “To set the record straight, I do not have a contract with MLE or Nathan’s and they are looking to change the rules from past years as it relates to other partners I can work with.”
In a statement to PEOPLE, an Impossible Foods spokesperson said: “We love Joey and support him in any contest he chooses. It’s OK to experiment with a new dog. Meat eaters shouldn’t have to be exclusive to just one wiener.”
Chestnut is scheduled to go head-to-head against his longtime rival Kobayashi, a six-time winner of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, in an all-beef hot dog eating competition titled Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef. The special will be broadcast live on Netflix on September 2.
