Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut to return to Coney Island hotdog eating contest after contract dispute
Competitive eater Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut announced Monday he will return to compete in this year's Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest after skipping last year's gastronomic battle for the coveted Mustard Belt.
'This event means the world to me,' Chestnut, 41, said in a message posted on X. 'It's a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture, and a huge part of my life.' It will mark the 20th appearance for the Indiana eater at the Coney Island contest.
Last year, Major League Eating event organizer George Shea said Chestnut, who has won the 10-minute eat-a-thon 16 times, would not be participating due to a contract dispute. Chestnut had struck a deal with a competing brand, the plant-based meat company Impossible Foods.
For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
In a phone interview Monday, the competitive eater made it clear he never appeared in any commercials for the company's vegan hot dogs and that Nathan's is the only hot dog company he has worked with. But Chestnut acknowledged he should have made that more clear with Nathan's.
'There was a little bit of communication that we could have improved on last year,' he said. 'And I… yeah, I think we figured it out. It took a little bit of finessing.'
Chestnut is still working with Impossible Foods and said clarifications have been made to his respective contracts. Richard Shea, president of Major League Eating, said he did not want to rehash what happened last year because he found it dispiriting, but said he's happy everything is resolved now.
'I think it's the return of the greatest competitive eater of all time to the biggest competitive eating event of all time. So I don't think it gets much bigger in any sport,' Shea said. 'I mean, this guy is the greatest performer we've ever seen in Coney Island and in competitive eating.'
Chestnut said he heard from fans over the past year who wanted him to return to the Coney Island event, which is broadcast live on ESPN and even shown overseas. Last year, he opted to compete against soldiers in Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, in a 5-minute hot dog eating contest.
Back in New York, Patrick Bertoletti gobbled up 58 hot dogs to win his first men's title, while defending champion Miki Sudo won her 10th title in the women's division, downing a record 51 links. Chestnut holds the world record of eating 76 hot dogs.
'Over the last year, I ran into a lot of people who said that it wasn't the same without me. And I told many people that I was going to work really hard to make sure I got back there,' Chestnut said. 'And I'm really happy that Nathan's and Major League Eating… we were all able to figure it out.'
Chestnut said he's been prepping for the big event and has a couple practice sessions left before the July Fourth holiday. 'My body's in tune right now,' he said, explaining how he has to build tolerance for consuming so many hot dogs and get all those muscles used to working together. He likened the process to a boxer getting in practice rounds before a big fight.
Chestnut made it clear his business relationship with Impossible Foods does not mean he has become a vegan, an assumption he said some fans made last year. Chestnut said he was surprised by the 'weird blowback' he received about it, explaining he eats a plant-based diet during his recovery from competitive eating events.
'I love meat. I'm going to continue to eat meat. But when I recover from a contest, I have to eat super clean in order to get my body to try to get back to normal,' he said. 'I can't eat pounds of meat every day.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
28 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Nina Kuscsik, Pioneer in Long-Distance Running and First Woman to Win the Boston Marathon, Has Died
Nina Kuscsik, who campaigned for women's inclusion in long-distance running and then won the Boston Marathon the first year that they were officially allowed to enter the race, has died. She was 86. An obituary for the A.L. Jacobsen Funeral Home in Huntington Station, New York, said Kuscsik died June 8 of respiratory failure after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. 'Nina was more than a pioneer, determined women's running advocate, and celebrated icon within the sport. To us, she was a friend who will always be remembered for her kindness, joyful laugh, and smile,' the Boston Athletic Association said on Instagram. 'Nina held the distinct honor of winning the 1972 Boston Marathon and recognized the platform that came with that triumphant moment, inspiring thousands of women to reach their own goals and finish lines in the decades since. The BAA extends heartfelt condolences to Nina's family, friends, and all in the running community who were touched by her grace.' According to the obituary, Kuscsik graduated from high school at 16, studied nursing for two years, and received her license at 18 after petitioning to change a New York law that required nurses to be 21. She won state championships in speed skating, roller skating, and cycling – all in the same year – before turning to running when her bicycle broke. She ran the Boston Marathon four times from 1968–71 – before women were officially welcomed, a period retroactively recognized as the Pioneer Era – and then won the first official women's race in 1972. She was also the first woman to enter the New York race in 1970 and was one of the Six Who Sat – six women who refused to start the '72 New York City Marathon for 10 minutes to protest an Amateur Athletic Union rule that the women's race had to be separate from the men's. She won that year and the next year as well. She later served on AAU and USA Track and Field committees drafting rules for women's running. Kathrine Switzer, who entered the 1971 Boston Marathon using her initials and became the first woman to officially compete, called Kuscsik 'one of our greatest leaders.' 'Nina was not only a champion runner but was instrumental in the official acceptance of women in distance running because she did years of tough work of changing rules, regulations, and submitting medical evidence to prove women's capability,' said Switzer, who started alongside Kuscsik and six other women who met the qualifying time for the 1972 Boston race. 'Eight of us registered, eight of us showed up, and all eight of us finished,' she said. 'It was a stunning moment – and a blistering hot day – but appropriately enough, Nina won.' In addition to the more than 80 marathons she ran over her lifetime, Kuscsik set the American record for the 50-mile run in 1977 and won the Empire State Building Run-Up three straight years from 1979–81. She was inducted into the Long Distance Running Hall of Fame in 1999.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Rick Carlisle Is a WNBA Fan, and in the NBA He's Far From Alone in That Club
It's official: Rick Carlisle isn't just an Indiana Fever fan. He's a fan of the WNBA game in general. The Indiana Pacers coach–shortly before his team was to play in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night–was asked to share his thoughts about how the WNBA is getting attention at this time of year. Carlisle didn't hesitate to tout how he thinks the WNBA is a great basketball product, in just the latest reminder than the W has some big fans all over the NBA. 'I've become a big follower of the WNBA,' Carlisle said. 'I have close relationships with some other head coaches in the W, along with (Fever coach) Stephanie White. I watched almost every Fever game last year. I think all or just about all of them were on national TV. And I'm following the entire league very closely. It's great basketball.' The Fever are a huge draw nationally and obviously in Indianapolis as well because of the Caitlin Clark phenomenon. The Pacers make no secret of how they are Fever fans and vice versa. It's also been quite common for years to see big NBA names–LeBron James, Chris Paul, Bam Adebayo, Damian Lillard, and many others–showing up at WNBA games. San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama was at a Dallas Stars game earlier this season. Russell Westbrook and his Honor The Gift label helped style and design what Georgia Amoore wore to this year's WNBA draft when she got picked sixth overall by Washington. 'I can't thank him enough because even the little bits of advice he's given me along the way, to have a contact like that now as someone I can try and lean on or lean into, it's amazing and I think it's the start,' Amoore said of Westbrook on draft night. 'You're going to see this happen more often and I think it's just a blessing to be the first one to do it.' Carlisle said he understands why NBA coaches and players are drawn to the WNBA–and added that the NBA can learn plenty from how some in the WNBA play the game. 'There are things that can be learned by NBA staffs and players watching the W because the dynamics of their game are a little different,' Carlisle said. 'The footwork elements of it are very, very high level. And you know the personalities, they are coming at you all the time. It's very fun. It's very fun to follow.'
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
No-Hit Loss Won't Erase the Lifetime Memories Made by Murray State During Its Improbable Run
The stands at Charles Schwab Field were emptying, and Murray State players wanted to savor their program's first College World Series appearance as long as they could. Never mind the Racers had just been no-hit by Arkansas's Gage Wood in a 3–0 loss that would send them home to southwestern Kentucky on Tuesday. Some of the players filled jars with infield dirt–a keepsake from their improbable journey to the city where every college baseball team wants to be in June. Some milled about with family and friends. 'One of my wife's favorite movies is 'A League of Their Own,' and they said 'there's no crying in baseball,'' an emotional coach Dan Skirka said to open his postgame news conference, with 9-year-old son Keegan on his knee. 'Well, throw that out the window. There's no way I'm making it through this right here.' For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. The Racers were the first Missouri Valley Conference team to make the CWS since 2003 and only the fourth No. 4 regional seed to get to Omaha since the NCAA Tournament went to its current format in 1999. They swept conference regular-season and tournament championships, beat No. 10 national seed Mississippi of the SEC twice on its home field and Georgia Tech of the ACC once en route to a regional title. Then the Racers went to Duke of the ACC for super regionals and lost the opener before winning two straight to punch their ticket to Omaha. Murray State overcame early jitters in its CWS opener against UCLA, falling behind 6–0 and losing 6–4. As for their game against Arkansas, the Racers just happened to run into a pitcher who threw one of the greatest games in college baseball history–a no-hitter with nineteen strikeouts, a record in a nine-inning CWS game and tied for most by a Division I pitcher this season. 'We never lost faith. Haven't all year. We're not about to start now,' third baseman Carson Garner said. 'About halfway through the game I think we realized that, 'Hey, this guy's, he's dealing, he's throwing a perfect game.'' Murray State finished 44–17 to set a program record for wins, ending the season with only its second shutout loss. 'The wins are phenomenal. We had a lot of them,' said Jonathan Hogart, who led the Racers with twenty-two homers. 'You just can't match the culture we have here. I'm going to miss Coach, I'm going to miss these two (Garner and Dustin Mercer). I'm going to miss every one of these guys. Strapping on the cleats to go to war with these guys was such a blessing this year, and I'll never take it for granted.' Skirka, who finished his seventh season as the Racers' coach, put together a roster made up of eight Division I transfers, fourteen from junior colleges, and fourteen high school recruits. Skirka said no one on his team was making money from endorsements or other name, image, and likeness opportunities. 'You say at the end of the year only one team's happy,' Skirka said. 'That ain't the case this year. There's definitely more than one because these guys, the run they went on, you're not going to be able to wipe the smile off their face for a really long time. That's what I told them. They're going to share this for ages, and people are going to ask them about it for ages, and that's really the cool thing.'
