On July 4th, Joey Chestnut celebrated the nation’s birthday by capturing his 7th consecutive hot-dog eating championship in front of a crowd of 40,000. He set the world’s record at the Coney Island event by downing 69 franks in 10 minutes. 
The title was never in doubt as his nearest competitors were in the mid-40s. In a post-competition interview Chestnut indicated he was hoping for 70. He attributed his success to good tasting dogs, great weather, and his ability to maintain a consistent pace. He added that his body was working for him and things just happened to come together. While some of Chestnut’s sound bites were similar to Rafael Nadal’s post match interview, seven hot dog championships is a far cry from Nadal’s eight French Opens.
Sonya Thomas, aka the Black Widow, successfully defended her title as women’s champion by inhaling 36+ dogs. She was disappointed that her totals weren’t higher and stated that even though she felt great, the hot dogs were cooked in water that was hotter than she was used to which made her slow down.
While the accomplishments of Chestnut and Thomas are mind boggling, the nutritional value of 69 hot dogs is even more astonishing. The following information is derived from the website of Nathan’s Famous Frankfurters, event sponsors, www.nathansfamous.com (site numbers are multiplied by 69 to determine the nutritional value of the hot dogs consumed by Chestnut):
- Serving size – 8,211 grams
- Calories – 24,150 grams
- Calories from fat – 13,110 grams
- Total fat – 1,518 grams
- Saturated fat – 552 grams
- Trans fat 69 grams
- Cholesterol 3,105 milligrams
- Sodium 60,030 milligrams
- Total carbohydrates 1,656 grams
- Sugar 276 grams
- Protein 966 grams
Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, the Percent Daily Value (PDV) of the Total fat was 2,385%, Saturated fat 2,760%, Cholesterol 530%, and Sodium 2,480%. In other words, the 69 hot dogs consumed by Chestnut in 10 minutes contained the PDV of sodium for 25 days.