A champion has emerged in the 2025 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Joey Chestnut handily secured the title during the Friday, July 4, competition in New York’s Coney Island, consuming 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to take home his 17th mustard belt. Chestnut, 41, came close to breaking his own record of 76 hot dogs, which he set at the 2021 edition of the contest. After the contest, he apologized to the crowd for not eating more but promised he’d return next year.
The runner-up, Patrick Bertoletti, trailed far behind Chestnut with 46.5 franks. The third place finisher, James Webb, ate 45.5 hot dogs.
In the women’s competition, Miki Sudo came out victorious, demolishing 33 hot dogs in 10 minutes and taking home her 11th win. Despite that impressive number, Sudo, 39, said she was disappointed in her total after breaking the women’s record last year with 51 dogs. “For some reason, the buns felt larger today,” she told reporters after the contest.
This year marked the return of Chestnut the 16-time champion who was banned from the event in 2024 after signing an endorsement deal with plant-based meat 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 (MLE) said in a June 2024 statement, claiming that the organization went to “great lengths” to make the situation work but Chestnut and his team “prioritized a new partnership with a different hot dog brand over our long-time relationship.”
Chestnut reacted via Instagram at the time, alleging that MLE was trying to “change the rules” about being affiliated with other food brands.
“This is apparently the basis on which I’m being banned,” he added, “and it doesn’t impact the July 4th contest.”
Chestnut suggested that the “very disappointing” decision to bar him from the competition would “deprive the great fans of the holiday’s usual joy and entertainment.”
“I love competing in that event,” he continued. “I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country on the 4th and I have been training to defend my title.”
In Chestnut’s absence, Bertoletti won the 2024 contest, eating 58 hot dogs in the allotted 10 minutes.
Two months later, Chestnut teased his return to the competition, exclusively telling Us Weekly in September 2024 that he would “absolutely” consider the possibility the following year.
“They have to be reasonable,” he said. “I’d love to go back because this year I have to eat hot dogs without dunking. … I have a hybrid method of dunking and not dunking. Because I think this contest has made me even better.”
In June, Chestnut offered a glimpse into his prep work for this year’s contest soon after confirming his return.
“I usually watch some old practices, almost kind of simulated contests just swallowing air, go through the motions,” he told The New York Post. “Usually I’m in bed before 9 p.m., wake up about 5 a.m. and start doing stretches and yoga and burping exercises to get my stomach loose and stretched after sleeping.”
Chestnut also drinks “aloe vera juice” to keep his throat lubricated and avoids solid foods in the hours leading up to the event.
“The day before I usually have to eat a hot dog at the weigh-in,” he explained. “Before that, I usually have some eggs for breakfast. Maybe a little bit of protein, like protein shake that day. I go in really, really empty the day of the contest.”
After the competition, Chestnut focuses on rest and recovery.
“Usually I’m in bed,” he said of how he spends the rest of the holiday. “Sometimes I’m going for a walk if I get up from sleeping. If I can, maybe some yogurt, maybe a little salad. I don’t really have much until the next day. Even if I’m not hungry, I’m trying to eat salad, just trying to keep things moving.”
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