Ravenous return: Fast-chewing Chestnut wins July 4th hot dog contest
The 41-year-old American missed last year's event after signing a deal with Impossible Foods, whose plant-based products include hot dogs, but he was allowed to enter this year and made his Coney Island comeback a triumphant one.
Chestnut won by 24 hot dogs over last year's winner, Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago, but the maestro of mastication could not break his own record of 76 hot dogs that he consumed in 2021.
It marked the 17th time Chestnut claimed the "Mustard Belt" symbolic of supremacy in the gastronomic showdown and his ninth triumph in 10 years.
"Oh my gosh, I was nervous," Chestnut told event telecaster ESPN after his victory. "First couple of hot dogs, I was fumbling a little bit, but I found a pretty good rhythm."
Chestnut said that despite his blowout triumph, he was hoping to make a better show of challenging his record consumption total.
"My goal was 70 to 77," he said. "I really wanted a little bit more. There's next year and I'm just happy I'm here."
On the women's side, American Miki Sudo won by eating 33 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, her 11th victory in the past 12 years, with American Michelle Lesco second on 22.75 dogs and buns.
Sudo, who set the women's record of 51 last year, did not compete in 2021 while pregnant, with Lesco winning that year.