The Bay Area's own Joey "Jaws" Chestnut once again will have fans cheering him on Sunday as he goes for his 14th Mustard Belt in the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest.
A live audience will return for the contest at Coney Island, New York, after last year's competition was held for media only at a private location because of the pandemic, according to Major League Eating.
Chestnut, who was raised in Vallejo and San Jose, last year downed a world record 75 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, breaking his own mark by one.
In the women's competition last year, Miki Sudo of Tampa, Florida, won her seventh consecutive Mustard Belt after eating a record 48.5 hot dogs and buns, according to MLE.
Chestnut kept himself busy in 2020, even at the height of the pandemic's quarantine. In March 2020, about a week before everything shut down, he decided to celebrate his "cheat day" at home by consuming a world-record 32 McDonald's Big Macs in 38 minutes, 15 seconds.
About a month later, Chestnut and other pro eaters participated in the BetOnline Quarantine Challenge.
Then in October, Chestnut, 37, scarfed down a 12-pound walking taco at home just for fun on National Taco Day. He finished out 2020 participating with fellow pro eaters in a holiday tournament of sorts that consisted of a Halloween candy eating contest, a full Thanksgiving meal in November and a Super Bowl spread in February.
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A total of 18 men and 10 women are expected to compete Sunday. The starting horn sounds at 11 a.m. Eastern time for the women and 12:30 p.m. ET for the men, and the contests will be televised on ESPN. The contest is taking place at Maimonides Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team.
Keeping with tradition, Nathan’s Famous will once again donate 100,000 of its hot dogs to the Food Bank for New York City.
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