On July 4th, 2010, Joseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut won his fourth straight Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest, by slamming down 54 hot dogs in what he himself describes as "a disappointing performance".
I have to admit that 54 dogs is a far cry from 2009's performance when he took down a record 68 dogs. Aside how I personally feel about the sport of competitive eating I can't help but admire Joey's body of work over the years. Check it out:
Chestnut defeated Sonya Thomas in the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship and placed second to her in a Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship qualifier, downing 56 Krystal Burgers in eight minutes to her 57. He later beat her by eating 91 hamburgers in the finals, finishing second to the 97 hamburgers consumed by Takeru Kobayashi.
Chestnut qualified for the 2006 Nathan's Contest by eating 50 hot dogs with buns. As July 4 approached, there was speculation that 2006 might be the year when Kobayashi would be beaten.It was not to be, however. Although Chestnut turned in a great performance, leading Kobayashi through most of the contest, the final tally put Chestnut at 52 and Kobayashi at 53-3/4 (a new world record).
In 2007, Chestnut won the Wing Bowl XV, another installment of the annual Philadelphia event at the Wachovia Center. In this competition, he ate 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes, becoming a Wing Bowl champion and record holder.
Chestnut drank a gallon of milk in 41 seconds, but did not verify that he completed "The Milk Challenge" by keeping it down for the requisite one hour.
On July 4, 2007, Chestnut and Kobayashi battled the field in a record-setting hot dog eating battle in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, at Nathan's Contest. Chestnut knocked off Kobayashi 66-63, leading to the latter's first defeat in the contest in six years.
On October 28, 2007 between 2:33 and 2:41, Chestnut ate 103 Krystal burgers in the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was Chestnut's personal best, and is the new world record.
Starting off 2008 very well, Chestnut has already set two new world records. He devoured 241 wings in 30 minutes at the Wing Bowl XVI in Philadelphia on February 1, and he ate 78 matzo balls during Kenny & Ziggy's World Matzoh Ball Eating Championship in Houston, Texas on March 2.
On July 4, 2008, Chestnut tied Takeru Kobayashi in the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Contest after eating 59 HDB in 10 minutes. The tie resulted in a 5-hotdog eat-off, which Chestnut won by consuming all 5 hot dogs before Kobayashi. The 59 is a new record in the competition based on the reduction from 12 minutes to 10 minutes. Chestnut, 24, weighed in at 102 kilograms (225 pounds).
On July 28, 2008, Chestnut lost to Takeru Kobayashi in Chicken Satay eating in the MLE Asia inaugural event. He consumed just over 4 kilos to Kobayashi's almost 5.5.
On August 23, 2008, Chestnut defeated #2 IFOCE ranked competitive eater Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti in the 2nd Gyoza Eating Championship in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California. He devoured 231 gyoza, setting a new world record; he beat his previous record of 212, set in the inaugural event in 2006 when he narrowly defeated Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas (210). Thomas did not attend the 2008 event due to budgetary and travel costs.
On October 12, 2008, he consumed 45 slices of pizza, winning the "Famous Famiglia World Pizza Eating Championship", which was held in New York's Times Square. This would be a brief record until Bertoletti would consume 47 slices a few weeks later.
On February 21, 2009, he consumed 10 and a half pounds of macaroni and cheese in seven minutes during halftime at the San Jose Stealth lacrosse game, beating out his contestants and adding another world record to his name.
On July 4, 2009, Chestnut topped his previous record of 59 hot dogs and buns by consuming 68 hot dogs in the 2009 Nathan's Hotdog Eating Contest.
On Man v. Food, San Jose, California, Chestnut ate Iguana's Burritozilla: a 5 pound, 17 inch burrito in 3 minutes, 10 seconds.
Joey beat the Free 72 ounce steak challenge at the Big Texan Steak Ranch by eating the steak, a salad, potato, and three shrimp in under an hour. He set a speed record with 8:52 minutes.