EWWW! NATHAN'S 4TH OF JULY HOT DOG EATING CONTEST!

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut maintained pigout primacy Monday, winning his fifth straight mustard belt in Coney Island's hot dog eating contest.
But there could be an asterisk next to the title, since his renegade rival Takeru Kobayashi powered through what may be a new world record in an unsanctioned, simultaneous scarf-fest on a Manhattan rooftop.

Chestnut, the certified champ, choked down 62 dogs and water-soaked buns on the official Nathan's Famous stage - falling short of his 2009 world record of 68 dogs but ending with a healthy nine dog lead over her nearest competitor Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti.

Kobayashi, who was ineligible to compete in the beloved Brooklyn contest because he won't sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating, put away 69 dogs purchased earlier in the day from the South Street Seaport Nathan's.

"I'm feeling pretty damn good right now," Chestnut, 27, said after the 10-minute televised competition wrapped. "At the end, I kept messing up my rhythm…(but) I just kept pushing."

"Some things you'll have to pry from my cold dead fingers," he said holding his yellow belt. "I'll do anything I can to win."

He didn't bite at questions about his nemesis, saying only "If that's what he wants to do, that's what he wants to do."

Women's champ Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas didn't mince her words.

"This was the big leagues," she said. "If Kobayashi wasn't involved, he was second string."

Kobayashi, 33, was arrested last year after crashing the event's stage.

"I think I showed them," he said after devouring his dogs two and three at a time. "I'm very happy about my win today but I feel like I'm not at my peak. I think I could go up to 90 or 85."

Steve Greenberg owns the rooftop bar that hosted the splinter event and said he paid Kobayashi an appearance fee. He showed his Nathan's receipt to prove the dogs were regulation.

"They (Nathan's) didn't know we were doing it…They would have filled the hotdogs with lead if they did," Greenberg, who owns the venue called 230 Fifth, told the News.

"I'm surprised how far he finished ahead of Chestnut," said rooftop watcher Chris Rauch, 29, from Hoboken. "It's great that he did it, but it wasn't in the competition so I don't think it should really count."

Organizers said Kobayashi gained 19 pounds from the chowdown.

Thomas, the petite female favorite, won with a jaw-dropping 40 dogs.
The 42-year-old fell one shy of her all-time record of 41 but ended with a 10 1/2-dog lead over her nearest competitor Juliet Lee.

"Whoa," she said when the contest ended. She raised her pink victory belt above her head and received a bouquet of pink roses.


Youtube


Source