Chestnut, Sudo Still Riding High on Top of Hot Dog Throne
Miki Sudo and Joey Chestnut celebrate their victory.
NEW YORK — Another year, another Mustard Belt for Joey Chestnut of San Jose and Miki Sudo of Las Vegas.
The veteran champions were able to withstand the tough competition and come out victorious in the 2018 Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4 in Coney Island.
Coming into the big event, rising star Carmen Cincotti looked to overthrow the 10-time champion and take home his first title. But Chestnut was determined to add another win to his impressive competitive eating résumé. Not only did he win his 11th title, but he also broke his own world record, eating 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes. This astonishing performance only further solidified his place in Nathan’s Famous history.
On the women’s side, Sudo remained dominant. Despite the high heat, she was able to fend off the hungry competition of Michelle Lesco and Juliet Lee. With this victory, Sudo brought home her fifth consecutive title.
Chestnut, Sudo and many of the other competitors are also regulars at the Day-Lee Foods World Gyoza Eating Championship, held every August during the Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Little Tokyo. Chestnut won last year by eating 377 gyoza in 10 minutes; Sudo finished fifth with 200.
Major League Eating ranks Chestnut No. 1 in the world; Sudo is No. 5. Cincotti is No. 2, Lesco is No. 9 and Lee is No. 14.
Joey Chestnut’s competitors included fellow San Josean Matt “Megatoad” Stonie (left). The two are also rivals at the gyoza-eating competition held in Little Tokyo during Nisei Week.
Following are results of this year’s hot dog contest:
Men’s Results
Joey Chestnut 74
Carmen Cincotti 64
Darron Breeden 43
Geoffrey Esper 41
Matt Stonie 40
Gideon Oji 37.5
Max Suzuki 34
Adrian Morgan 33
Juan Rodriguez 32
Nick Wehry 31
Rich LeFevre 28
Derek Jacobs and Juan Neave 27
Matt Hazzard 25
George Chiger 24.75
Steve Hendry and Pablo Martinez 24
Erik Denmark and Ronnie Hartman 21.5
Jim Reeves 21
Badlands Booker 20
Women’s Results
Miki Sudo 37
Michelle Lesco 28
Juliet Lee 25
Sarah Reinecke 21
Larell Marie Mele 19
Sophia DeVita 14
Jingru Chen and Holly Titus 13
Kassandra Zapata 12
Katie Prettyman 11
Jocelyn Walker 10.5
Tracie Dickerson and Kathryn Tesch 8
Brittany Powell 7
Rene Rovtar and Brynn Szeles 6.5
Kristina Rovtar 5
Prudence DiBenedetto 4
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