Chestnut wins 18th Mustard Belt, heat slows record attempt

Joey Chestnut defended his Nathan’s Famous title with 66 hot dogs and buns at Coney Island, winning his 18th Mustard Belt as punishing heat slowed his bid for another record. The total left him well short of the 76 hot dogs he set in 2021 and below the 70.5 he ate in 2025.

Chestnut said the weather changed the day’s rhythm from the start. Midday temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit and high humidity pressed down on the original Nathan’s Famous location at Surf and Stillwell avenues, where the event unfolded under conditions far removed from the polished, controlled setting of a standard arena contest. Chestnut said, “I’m not going to get into it looking for an excuse, but yeah, it slowed me down,” and added that he knew early he would win even if the record was out of reach.

The margin behind him underscored the field around him. Patrick Bertoletti, the 2024 champion, finished second in the men’s division with 51 hot dogs, while Miki Sudo won the women’s title with 38.75 hot dogs for her 12th championship. Major League Eating said 13 competitors were in the men’s field and that entrants came from the Czech Republic, Australia and South Korea, a reminder that the annual Fourth of July spectacle now draws an international roster even as it remains anchored in Brooklyn.

The event began with the women’s championship at 11 a.m. ET and the men’s championship at 12:30 p.m. ET, with ESPN carrying live coverage. That schedule placed the competition squarely in the hottest part of the day, and it came during a holiday weekend when a heat dome covered much of the eastern United States. Chestnut’s lower total showed how weather can now shape even a ritualized American event built on repetition, endurance and public display.

Nathan’s and Major League Eating have long cast the contest as a holiday tradition, with the first recorded major contest dating to 1972. This year’s version landed during the United States’ 250th birthday celebration, adding another layer of civic pageantry to a contest where the scoreboard, the heat and the crowd all shared the same stage.