Champion downs 64 hot dogs to keep title
Posted
Hard to stomach: Joey Chestnut claims victory in the July 4 hot dog eating contest. (AFP: Michael Neagle)
US defending champion Joey Chestnut won the annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest overnight by downing 64 hot dogs in a competition that stretched into a first-ever overtime.
Mr Chestnut, of San Jose, California, defeated six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan in the annual event held at New York's Coney Island beach.
The two were tied at 59 hot dogs a piece at the end of the regulation 10 minutes, forcing a sudden death overtime to determine which man could eat five more hot dogs in the shortest time.
Organisers said it was the first overtime in the contest's history.
Mr Chestnut won the overtime, marking his second consecutive victory over Mr Kobayashi.
Mr Kobayashi won the contest six straight times but lost the title in an upset to Mr Chestnut last year.
Thousands of onlookers were on hand for the July 4 Independence Day event which Nathan's has staged since 1916.
The winner receives $10,000, a mustard yellow belt and a year's supply of hot dogs from Nathan's, which began in 1916 with a small Coney Island hot dog stand and now sells food products globally.
- Reuters
