Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2017 Records, Updates: Could Nine-Time Champ Chestnut Defend his Title?

By Clarissa Partosa, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, July 04, 2017

Joey "Jaws" Chestnut is the current champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for nine years in a row. Could he defend his title for the tenth time?

Nathan's holds it's Hot Dog Eating Contest every Fourth of July, where qualifiers from different regions of the United States will compete for the Yellow Mustard Belt. This year marks Nathan's Famous' 45^{th annual Hot Dog Eating Contest.}

The contest – produced by Major League Eating – will capture the attention of about 35,000 people, who visit the corner of Surf and Stillwell, where Nathan's Famous' original hot dog store is located in Coney Island, New York for the Fourth of July celebration.

For the past nine years, Chestnut held the Yellow Mustard Belt in the men's division. He defended his belt last year by finishing 70 hotdogs in just 10 minutes.

This year, he will be up against Matthew Stonie, and a newcomer from Queens, New York, Carmen Cincotti.

There are also others coming from qualifying events that were held from April. The qualifiers – which can be seen here – will be sent to Coney Island on an all-expense-paid trip in a Midtown Manhattan Hotel to compete with everyone else.

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest will begin on July 4, with ESPN3 covering the event from 10:50 a.m.

The women's division – where Miki Sudo will try to defend her title as champion – will begin at 11 a.m., while the men's will start at 12:30 in the afternoon.