Competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut managed to out-eat four soldiers at the same time during a July 4 hot dog-eating contest at Fort Bliss, Texas.
Chestnut, a 16-time winner of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, went up against four soldiers competing as a team against him: Spc. Daniel Almaraz Puente, Spc. Carter Shook, Maj. Jacob Elliot and Pvt. Second Class Colton Garcia. Chestnut ate 57 hot dogs in five minutes compared to the soldiers’ combined 49 hot dogs.
For reference, this year’s winner of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest was Patrick Bertoletti who ate 58 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
“They were pushing me and I wasn’t holding back,” Chestnut told the crowd following his victory.
Chestnut said the most hot dogs he had ever eaten before in five minutes was 55, so the numbers he put up at Fort Bliss put him “on record pace.”
Normally, on July 4, Chestnut would be in Coney Island at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. But after competing in the contest for 19 years, a surprise announcement last month threw a wrench in those plans.
Officials from Major League Eating announced on June 11 that Chestnut, who ate 62 hot dogs at last year’s contest, would be barred from competing in the annual competition after Chestnut signed with another hot dog brand, according to the Associated Press.
Following that news, the Fort Bliss Morale, Welfare and Recreation account on X, formerly Twitter, tagged Chestnut in a tweet offering him a chance to compete against soldiers at the base’s July 4th event. Chestnut enthusiastically accepted the offer.
Before the competition, Chestnut told the crowd about his family’s long history of military service. His grandfather served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and was present during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His father and brother also served, along with a couple of his uncles.
Chestnut currently holds the world record for hot dog eating, consuming 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Zamone “Z” Perez is a reporter at Military Times. He previously worked at Foreign Policy and Ufahamu Africa. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he researched international ethics and atrocity prevention in his thesis. He can be found on Twitter @zamoneperez.
