Joseph "Joey" Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater. The 6.1-foot-tall (1.9 m), 230-pound (100 kg) competitive eater is currently ranked first in the world by the Major League Eating.[1] He is a Vallejo, California native and resides in San Jose, California. On July 4, 2007, Chestnut won the 92nd Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. "Tsunami" Kobayashi by consuming 66 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in 12 minutes, which set a new world record. The following year, he successfully defended his title by winning a 5 hot dog eat-off after tying Kobayashi in consuming 59 HDB in 10 minutes. - Fourth of July fireworks
The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition. It is held each year on Independence Day at Nathan's Famous Corporation's original, and best-known restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The contest has gained public attention in recent years due to the stardom of Takeru Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut. The defending champion is Joey Chestnut, who ate 72 hot dogs in the 2017 contest. He beat out Carmen Cincotti and the 2015 champ, Matt Stonie.
The winner of the men's competition is given possession of the coveted international "bejeweled" mustard-yellow belt. The belt is of "unknown age and value" according to IFOCE co-founder George Shea and rests in the country of its owner. In 2011, Sonya Thomas won the inaugural women's competition and its "bejeweled" pink belt. Various other prizes have been awarded over the years. For example, in 2004 Orbitz donated a travel package to the winner. Starting in 2007, cash prizes have been awarded to the top finishers.
