Over the weekend, competitive food lovers got to enjoy the return of their favorite 4th of July tradition, as the 2025 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest took place Friday at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. This year, both of the multi-year champions did not disappoint their fans, as Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo continued their dominance.
As Yahoo Sports reports, Joey Chestnut blew away the competition in his return to the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chestnut took down 70.5 hot dogs for the win, 24 more than the next closest competitor. While it was an impressive performance, it wasn’t a record. Chestnut came close, but couldn’t beat his 2021 record of 76 hot dogs.
Patrick Bertoletti, who won the event last season, finished second with 46.5 hot dogs and buns consumed. Chestnut returned to the event after a one-year ban over sponsorship issues. Due to his partnership with Impossible Foods, Chestnut was not allowed to take part in the event in 2024, which allowed Bertoletti to pick up that win.
Cooler heads prevailed ahead of the contest in 2025, with Chestnut announcing in June that he was able to return. He lived up to that return Friday, picking up yet another impressive victory in the competition. This year’s triumph marked the 17th time Chestnut won the event and the ninth time in the last 10 years he out-ate the competition.
On the women’s side, even though she didn’t break her previous records, Miki Sudo stormed away with the victory on Friday, winning the event after consuming 33 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She defeated runner-up Michelle Lesco by over 10 hot dogs. Lesco finished with 22 3/4 hot dogs.
With the win, Sudo has now won the event in 11 of the past 12 years. The one year she missed out, Sudo did not take part in the competition due to her pregnancy.
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