Patrick Bertoletti, of Chicago, has won his very first men’s title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.
Bertoletti, 39, won by consuming 58 hot dogs in a tight, 10-minute race where the leader bounced back and forth. He surpassed his personal best of 55 hot dogs.
Bertoletti defeated 13 competitors from around the world. The reigning men’s champion, Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut, didn’t attend the competition this year over a sponsorship tiff.
Instead, he’ll compete against soldiers at a US Army base in El Paso later in the day.
Earlier, defending champion Miki Sudo of Florida won her 10th title in the women’s division.
Patrick Bertoletti, 39, won his first title after defeating 13 competitors from around the world
The Chicago native came in the lead late after James Webb led for the majority of the contest
Major League Eating, which organizes the Nathan’s Famous contest, has since said it walked back the ban, but Chestnut decided to spend the holiday with the troops anyway.
Chestnut said he wouldn’t return to the Coney Island contest without an apology.
The event at the Fort Bliss army base in El Paso, scheduled to begin at 5pm ET, will use traditional franks, with Chestnut attempting to out-eat four soldiers in five minutes.
Even though he won’t be eating their vegan products, Impossible Foods is promoting Chestnut’s YouTube livestream of the exhibition by flying airplanes with banners over Los Angeles and Miami.
Miki Sudo set a new world record for the women’s contest by eating 50 hot dogs in 10 minutes
Last year’s winner of the men’s contest – Joey Chestnut – is banned due to sponsorship issues
Fans held cardboard signs to express their disapproval at Chestnut’s exclusion this year in NYC
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT: People wore hot dog costumes at a parking lot in Coney Island, NYC
The company will also donate to an organization supporting military families based on the number of hot dogs eaten at the event, a spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, for the women’s contest, dental hygiene student Miki Sudo, of Florida, won her 10th title after eating 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes, set a new world record for women in the process.
The 38-year-old defending champion last year won after consuming 39 1/2 hot dogs, while her personal best is 48 1/2, which was the woman’s world record until today.
Sudo defeated 14 competitors from around the world, including 28-year-old rival Mayoi Ebihara of Japan. Ebihara came in second after eating 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She was also the runner-up in 2023.
Others preferred to show their patriotism by dressing up in Star and Stripes and as Uncle Sam
Competitors and fans from all around the world come together to celebrate the annual event
Thousands of fans flock each year to the event held outside the original Nathan’s location in Brooklyn’s Coney Island, a beachfront destination with amusement parks and a carnivalesque summer culture.
Last year, Chestnut, of Indiana, chewed his way to the title by downing 62 dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The record, which he set in 2021, is 76.
Ahead of the event, ESPN said it would focus on two Americans with dedicated camera shots: Massachusetts high school teacher Geoffrey Esper, in the men’s division, and Sudo, in the women’s.
Esper came second last year with 49 dogs and buns, though his personal best is 51.
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