Nathan’s Hot Dog contest 2021: Who won the hot dog eating contest?

The Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest was held on Coney Island, which begs the question we all want to know: Who won the hot dog eating contest?

The 4th of July is, of course, a celebration of the founding of the United States of America. And when it comes to this holiday, there are certain traditions and festivities that go through one’s head. There are fireworks, barbeques and plenty of red, white and blue.

There is also a certain traditional event that takes place in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. It’s a festivity that features men and women looking to devour as many hot dogs and buns as they humanly can — the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest.

The history of this competition is an interesting one. A publicity stunt-based legend stated for the longest time that the contest began in 1916 as part of a settlement to determine who of four individuals was the most patriotic. In reality, the tradition began with a celebration of 100 years of the hot dog in 1967.

Competitions were then held in the 1970s in connection with patriotic-based holidays such as the 4th of July, Memorial Day and Labor Day, as well as the start of Coney Island’s summer season in April.

Who won the hot dog eating contest?

The competition didn’t get widely recognized, however, until the domination and then-unseen, record-breaking performances by Takeru Kobayashi. Kobayashi blew away the competition in 2001 with 50 hot dogs, shattering world records, and continuing to do so in his dominant reign o competitive eating between 2001 and 2006.

In 2007, however, he was usurped by Joey Chestnut, who has since set his own, and an even greater and longer, reign of dominance — minus the 2015 competition, in which he was upset by Matt Stonie.

Men and women were divided into two different competitions in 2011, with the legendary Sonya Thomas taking the crown in the first three years before Miki Sudo reigned the competition between 2014 and 2020.

Joey Chestnut sets new hot dog record

In 2020, both Chestnut and Sudo set new men’s and women’s world records for hot dog eating, with 75 and 48.5 hot dogs and buns, respectively.

And once again, Chestnut delivered on the biggest competitive eating stage, devouring 76 hot dogs and buns, with Geoffrey Esper coming in second with 50.

Michelle Lesco won the 2021 women’s competition, downing 30.75 hot dogs and buns, beating out second-place Sarah Rodriguez, who ate a personal-best 24.

The 2021 contest also featured a special Nathan’s lemonade chugging contest, which saw famed chugger and competitive eater Eric “Badlands” Booker defeat YouTuber Terrance Kenner (aka ItsTkenny)