Saturday afternoon, Joey Chestnut made competitive eating history when he ate 75 hot dogs in 10 minutes. This victory gave him 13 Mustard Belts in his career and surpassed his record of 74 hot dogs. Here’s how to rewatch the historic performance from the Fourth of July.
Following the contest on Saturday afternoon, some fans uploaded the full performance to YouTube. This clip provided extra opportunities to witness the record-breaking performance for those fans who couldn’t tune in and watch the competition live. ESPN provided some footage on Twitter, but this only showed the final minutes of the contest. It didn’t show the early portions when Chestnut had to build his initial advantage.
Videos by PopCulture.com
2020 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest FULL CONTEST Joey Chestnut NEW WORL… https://t.co/Oy2Yva688l via @YouTube
Hot dogs must go on
— Jake Miller (@SnakeHof) July 4, 2020
Early on in Saturday’s competition, there were some concerns about Chestnut’s pace — although they were short-lived. Darron Breeden, 2019’s runner-up, and the other men kept up with Chestnut during the first two minutes, but he quickly began pulling away. By the halfway point of eating competition, Chestnut had built up an insurmountable lead with a blistering pace.
The reigning hot dog eating champion maintained an even, fast pace throughout the competition, which quickly drew the attention of the ESPN announcers. They realized that he was within reach of 80 total hot dogs and buns ingested, which would easily surpass his previous record of 74. However, Chestnut’s pace slowed as the clock turned to seven minutes. He was well within reach of the record, but the announcers began to doubt that he would reach 80.
As the countdown continued, Chestnut continued to shove hot dogs and buns in his mouth. He scarfed down several with fewer than 20 seconds remaining and then beat the clock to eat his 75th. Chestnut shoved the hot dog and bun his mouth before the clock ran out and secured the new record. He did so while eating 33 more hot dogs than the closest competitor.
According to Field Yates of ESPN, Chestnut secured his GOAT (Greatest of All-Time) status with this performance on Saturday. He obtained his 13th title in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, giving him more titles than several other “athletes.” This list includes former tennis star Rafael Nadal and his 12 French Open titles, as well as Bill Russell and his 11 NBA titles. Even former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan and NFL quarterback Tom Brady have combined for only 12 titles.
