The exceptionally American tradition: History of Nathan's 4th of July hot dog eating contest

Joey Chestnut broke his own record in 2021, downing 76 hot dogs and buns; Miki Sudo is the contest's number-one-ranked woman.

ByAlex Meier KGO logo
Monday, July 3, 2023
History of Nathan's 4th of July hot dog eating contest
Few holiday traditions can be labeled as quintessentially American as the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

NEW YORK -- Few holiday traditions can be labeled as quintessentially American as the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

For generations, the annual 4th of July frankfurter fest happened outside Nathan's flagship shop in Brooklyn's Coney Island neighborhood. In 2022, the competition will return to the iconic corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues after a two-year hiatus from the traditional location due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

WATCH: Joey Chestnut breaks his own record

Joey Chestnut set a new world record Sunday as he ate 76 hot dogs to win his 14th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest title.

What to know about the biggest day in stomach-centric sports, according to Nathan's Famous:

An American tradition

Elevated view along a table as contestants eat hot dogs during the 1987 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island, New York, New York, July 4, 1987.
Walter Leporati/Getty Images

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held in Coney Island every 4th of July since 1916, the year Nathan Handwerker opened the legendary restaurant, according to Major League Eating archives. Irish immigrant Jim Mullen won with 13 hot dogs and buns.

Chowdown Champ

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut celebrates after winning the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest in Coney Island on July 4, 2021.
AP Photo/Brittainy Newman

Winning his 14th title, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut set a new record in 2021 after eating 76 hot dogs and buns in the 10-minute contest.

Rise of the King

Joey Chestnut poses at the official weigh-in ceremony for the Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan's Famous at Coney Island, July 3, 2007, in New York.
AP Photo / Louis Lanzano

Chestnut, of San Jose, California, won his first title in 2007 after downing 66 "HDBs," dethroning Japan's Takeru Kobayashi.

Sudo Supremacy

Competitive eater Miki Sudo poses before the Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, July 3, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
AP Photo/John Minchillo

Miki Sudo, the number-one-ranked woman in the hot dog-eating world, set the women's record in 2020 with 48 hot dogs and buns. She missed the contest the following year due to her pregnancy but returned in 2022.

Mustard Belt

The Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest championship belts are displayed, Friday, July 1, 2022, in New York.
AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson

Winners are crowned with the coveted Mustard Yellow International Belt, its age unknown.

Queens vs. Brooklyn

This photo shows a crowd at Nathan's Hot Dog stand in Coney Island in the 1930s.
George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

The 1920s saw alternating victories between Queens' Stan Libnitz and Brooklyn's Andrew Rudman until 1928 when Rudman won by half a frank. Libnitz allegedly accused Rudman of elbowing him in the stomach during their face-off, according to Nathan's, citing oral accounts.

Wardogs

People march in protest against the United States joining the war in Europe circa 1941 in New York, New York.
Irving Haberman/IH Images/Getty Images

The event was canceled in 1941 in protest of World War II.

The Black Widow

Sonya Thomas, of Alexandria, Va., counts the number of hot dogs she has eaten after the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating contest, July 4, 2005.
AP Photo/Diane Bondareff

In 2004, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas became the first woman to eat more than 30 dogs and buns.

Frank Bank

The audience watches the men's competition of the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, July 4, 2018, in New York's Coney Island.
AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

Nathan's Famous donates 100,000 hot dogs to the Food Bank for New York City prior to each year's event.

How to watch

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest will air live on Tuesday, July 4. ESPN has exclusive live broadcast rights from 10:45 a.m. ET to the conclusion of the event, expected to be at 1 p.m. ET.

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