Every Fourth of July, while the skies and backyards across the United States of America prepare to fill with smoke from the grill and erupt in fireworks, families gather in celebration. But in recent years, a new tradition has been added to the list of Independence Day festivities, an event so distinctly American, it belongs in the pantheon of baseball and apple pie: the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
At the centre of this annual spectacle, taking place in New York City’s Coney Island neighbourhood, stands Joey Chestnut, a man whose improbable talent—devouring hot dogs at a superhuman quantity and pace—has come to symbolize more than excess. In his own unique way, Chestnut provides a surprising source of inspiration, embodying values that resonate far beyond the competitive eating world.
This contest is not new. It has been taking place in its original location since the early 1970s. But for a period in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it became subject to an increasingly globalized competitive eating order. During this period, the contest was dominated by Japanese contestants, highlighted by a small but efficient eating machine known as Takeru Kobayashi.
Kobayashi doubled the then-world record in 2001 by taking down 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes and would go on to retrain the mustard-yellow championship belt for the next five years. It was a sad state of affairs for Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest; the mustard-yellow belt had left American soil, and for a nine-year period from 1997 to 2006, marked by eight Japanese victories, its return was not certain.
Then everything changed on July 4th, 2007. In a thrilling upset, the upstart Chestnut bested the global phenomenon, Kobayashi, by three hot dogs: 66-to-63.
Chestnut never looked back. He has reigned victorious in all but two Fourth of July hot dog eating contests since. There is an asterisk on that, though, because of Chestnut’s absence last year, but more on that in a moment.
At first blush, this might come across as a story of decadence, but you need not watch more than one Joey Chestnut introduction by the event’s emcee and announcer, George Shea, to hear and witness a story of American grit, determination, and a redefined American Dream.
Chestnut’s dominance in competitive eating didn’t arrive by chance. He trains relentlessly, with a regimen that includes fasting, controlled practice runs, and even jaw exercises. Behind the shocking numbers—like 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes (the tournament time since 2008)—lies the grit of a man deeply committed to his craft. In an era where shortcuts often receive more attention than effort, Chestnut is a reminder that greatness, even in the most unconventional way, is the product of discipline and sacrifice.
I’m as guilty as any to heroize athletes at the pinnacle of their sport, but at the end of the day, very few over the course of time have thrown a football, and even fewer have skated on ice. Every single human since the dawn of time has had to eat; no one has done it as prolifically as Chestnut. We walk the earth at the same time as Chestnut, and only America could provide us the stage to marvel at the undisputed, pound-for-pound greatest eater in human history. American exceptionalism.
Joey Chestnut celebrates after winning Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition in New York, Wednesday, July 4, 2007. Seth Wenig/AP Photo.
If George Washington doesn’t cross the Delaware in 1776, is there an American Industrial Revolution at the end of the 19th century? If not for the rise of industrial America, does the U.S. have the means to reverse fascism’s conquest at the start of the 20th century? Without contributing in a significant way to two World War victories, does America have the resolve to win the space race and plant a flag on the moon in 1969? And without beating communism to the next frontier, does the Berlin Wall fall in 1989?
American exceptionalism isn’t a mistake, it’s an attitude and belief, demonstrated in the past and now exemplified by one man who refused to accept another nation dominating the Fourth of July Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Chestnut may not look like your traditional American hero, but that is exactly why he’s so inspiring. He shows that excellence can come from unexpected places, that dedication can turn the outlandish into the iconic, and that sometimes, even in the act of eating dozens of hot dogs, there is something profoundly American. In his gut-busting glory, Chestnut offers the nation a powerful kind of hope: that with a concoction of liberty, freedom, and grit, anyone can carve out their own place in history.
After a hiatus last year due to a contractual dispute between a personal sponsor and the competition’s sponsor, Chestnut returns to the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest this Fourth of July. It is today that the nation will momentarily pause from debating the heavy headlines of social and political division to unite behind one man who pursues greatness while personifying American exceptionalism and perseverance.
In the words of Shea, “What greater fortune have we?”
