The winner of the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest ate more than 50 hot dogs during the competition Thursday.
The first place winner, Patrick Bertoletti, from Chicago, ate 58 hot dogs and buns. It was his personal best.
It was five more hot dogs than second place winner, Geoffrey Esper, who is a high school teacher in Massachusetts.
Bertoletti holds multiple records for eating, including 21 pounds of grits, 252 slices of pepperoni pizza and 42 PB&J sandwiches.
“With his current jalapeno record of 275 in 8-minute, Pat Bertoletti has cemented his name in the competitive eating history books,” his profile reads.
Patrick Bertoletti, center, competes in the men’s division in Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, Thursday, July 4, 2024, at Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Bertoletti ate 58 hot dogs. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)AP
For the first time in 16 years, Joey Chestnut did not compete in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Thursday.
Major League Eating, which organizes the annual food-eating contest, previously announced that Chestnut will not participate in the 2024 Hot Dog Eating Contest due to his choice to represent a “rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs.”
“MLE and Nathan’s went to great lengths in recent months to accommodate Joey and his management team,” Major League Eating said in a statement. ” … For nearly two decades we have worked under the same basic hot dog exclusivity provisions. However, it seems that Joey and his managers have prioritized a new partnership with a different hot dog brand over our long-time relationship.”
