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We Have A Weiner: Joey Chestnut Defends Hot-Dog-Eating Crown

He chowed down 61 in 10 minutes. 61! That's 23,790 calories, in case you're counting.
John Minchillo
/
AP
He chowed down 61 in 10 minutes. 61! That's 23,790 calories, in case you're counting.

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut ate eight fewer hot dogs than last year, but that didn't prevent him from defending his title at Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest in New York.

Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., devoured 61 hot dogs and buns in the allotted 10 minutes. He ate 69 last year. But that wasn't the only reason for Chestnut to celebrate: Just before the competition began on Coney Island, he proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Neslie Ricasa, also a competitive eater. She said yes.

Matt Stonie finished second. He ate 56 hot dogs and buns.

ESPN has more: "The 61 hot dogs and buns equates to 23,790 calories, 1,189.5 grams of fat, 60,390 milligrams of sodium, 2,245 grams of carbohydrates and 793 grams of protein."

The returning female champion, Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas of Alexandria, Va., wasn't as lucky. She was shocked by Miki Sudo, who ate 34 franks and buns in the allotted time. Thomas managed only 27 ¾. Last year, Thomas wolfed down 45.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.