Joey Chestnut challenges rival after being banned from Nathan’s International Hot Dog Eating Contest

CNN
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Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest He has a clear omission in the men’s competition this year.

This is because the family hot dog eating champion Joy Chestnut He is no longer competing, having struck a deal with plant-based food company Impossible Foods.

The famous competition kicked off in historic fashion with the women’s competition on Thursday, where champion Miki Sudo broke the women’s record by eating 51 hot dogs and a bun.

She beat second-place finisher Mayoi Ebihara by 14 hot dogs and buns to secure her 10th title in the competition.

“We finally beat 50, guys. I’ll see you next year,” Sudo told ESPN after her historic performance.

Meanwhile, Chestnut has won the Mustard Yellow Belt award 16 times, and ate a world record 76 hot dogs and a bagel in 10 minutes in 2021.

If Chestnut is absent from Nathan’s competition, he won’t let Independence Day pass without participating in the food challenge.

The 40-year-old will compete in his own event, where he will face four US Army soldiers at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, in an all-beef hot dog eating event.

The competition, which hopes to raise money for military families, will last five minutes, and Chestnut will focus on his Coney Island rivals.

Chestnut reportedly said he hoped to eat more hot dogs in five minutes than the winner of Nathan’s contest eats in 10 minutes.

“I think 56 is possible,” he said. USA Today“I would be very happy to do that.”

Chestnut’s challenge will be streamed live on his YouTube channel and is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, Nathan’s competition will air on ESPN, with the women’s competition starting at 10:45 a.m. ET and the men’s competition starting at 12 p.m. ET.

Major League Eating (MLE), which oversees the world-famous event, has insisted that Chestnut is not banned for life from competition, citing his 20-year association with the league. The organization said that in order to return, Chestnut must abandon deals with rival Nathan’s brands.

“Joey Chestnut is an American hero,” MLE said in a statement. “There’s nothing more exciting than having him in the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, which he has dominated for years. We hope he returns when he’s no longer representing a competing brand.”

Account named Chestnut Posted on XThe CEO of Twitter, formerly known as Twitter, said Tuesday that he “does not have a contract with MLE or Nathans and that they are looking to change the rules from years past regarding other partners that I can work with.”

CNN has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of X’s account.