Thaindian News

CONEY ISLAND, NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) – The annual International Federation of Competitive Eating (I.F.O.C.E) Nathan’s International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest, the world most famous hot dog eating contest, was held on Sunday at Coney Island in New York City where three-time champion Joey “Jaws” Chestnut defended his title by eating 54 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Chestnut, 26, is a 218-pound engineering student who is more prominently known as currently being ranked first place by the I.F.O.C.E. In 2007, he beat six-time defending champion Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi by eating 66 hot dogs (including the buns) in 12 minutes, setting a world record. He won three times following that, including this year, in which he won in a landslide victory, as Kobayashi did not compete due to a contract dispute with Major League Eating, barring him from competing in contests sanctioned by other groups.

However, Kobayashi tried to go on stage after the competition. Police officers grabbed him, but he tried to keep his grip on to police barricades as they took him into custody. It was not immediately clear whether he would be charged or not.

The contest was televised by ESPN, who has held the broadcasting rights to the event since 2004. According to local legend, on July 4, 1916, four immigrants had a hot dog eating contest at Nathan’s Famous hot dog stand on Coney Island to settle an argument regarding who was the most patriotic. The contest has been held nearly every year since then.