Hot dog champions set world records at famous food fest

Joey Chestnut downed 75 wieners and buns in 10 minutes and Miki Sudo downed 48-and-a-half in the same time.

Published Jul 5, 2020

World records were set at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in the US amid social distancing measures at the annual gluttony fest.

The coronavirus outbreak moved the famous competition from the Coney Island boardwalk to an undisclosed indoor location but the results were familiar: Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo were men’s and women’s champions once again.

Chestnut downed 75 wieners and buns in 10 minutes and Sudo downed 48-and-a-half in the same time, setting new world records for both the men’s and women’s events.

Competitive eater Joey Chestnut sets a new world record with 75 hot dogs to win the men’s division of the Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York — Competitive eater Joey Chestnut sets a new world record with 75 hot dogs (John Minchillo/AP)

“I know that’s what the fans want.”

The annual Fourth of July hot dog contest normally takes place outside Nathan’s flagship shop in Brooklyn, New York, but was held indoors without spectators.

Just five women and five men competed, and clear plastic barriers separated them as they chowed down.

Competitive eaters Joey Chestnut, left, and Miki Sudo, right, pose for a photograph after winning their respective divisions with new world records after the Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York — Champions Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo (John Minchillo/AP)

It was Chestnut’s 13th win and Sudo’s seventh.

They will each take home 10,000 dollars (£8,000).