This afternoon in New York, Joey Chesnutt was once again crowned the winner of the Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. His inclusion a legend in his domain far less conspicuous than his claim as a pro athlete. He none the less did something practically inconceivable while in competition: downing a record 74 wieners and buns in 10 minutes' time. The victory handed him the coveted Mustard Belt for the eleventh time in his "hot dog-eating" career.
Over on the women's side, Miki Sudo retained her World Title by downing 37 wieners and buns for an impressive 5th consecutive year. She described her performance as one she'd to improve upon in the future, but Sudo would be the first to admit "a win is a win." On the men's side, Chesnutt ate more than 10 complete hot dogs than his closest competitor. Chesnutt described his record-setting performance afterwards, as the result of a "vicious rhythm."
Announcer George Shea felt the judges were a little off-base with their scoring but agreed, despite with Joey Chesnutt's final tally of 74 hot dogs. Even his closest competitor Carmen Concitti left happy knowing he'd been pushed to his very limit. "At the end of the day, Joey Chestnut came in here and ate 74 hot dogs, broke a world record,'' said Cincotti, "Apparently they were good dogs.''