Who Is Joey Chestnut? 5 Things to Know About the Hot Dog Eating Champion

usmagazine.com:

Nothing is more American than watching Joey Chestnut participate in the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July — but there’s more to know about the man behind the meat.

Chestnut got his start in the eating competition scene in 2005 as a college student. He participated and wowed the crowd during a breakout performance during the deep-fried asparagus eating championship where he scarfed down 6.3 pounds of asparagus in 11 and a half minutes, beating out professional eater Rich LeFevre.After the asparagus competition, Chestnut qualified for the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest that same year.

In his Coney Island debut, the competitive eater ate 32 hot dogs and came in third place behind Sonya Thomas and long-time champion Takeru Kobayashi.Chestnut had two years under his belt before taking home the win in the annual competition.

In 2007, Chestnut and Kobayashi went head-to-head in a record-setting hot dog eating battle. Kobayashi — who had won the game six years in a row — was only able to eat 63 franks while the San Jose State University alum scarfed down 66 hot dogs to take the win.Since his debut in 2005, Chestnut has won the hot dog eating contest a total of 15 times and has eaten a range of 59 to 76 hot dogs in each session.For the 2023 competition, the ESPN app will have a dedicated camera feed for Chestnut starting at 12:45 p.m.