Top Nathan’s Famous debuts
A list of the top first-time results for Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contests follows. Scott Watkins set the record for a qualifier debut on July 4. All the top 6 debuts are by non-Americans.
Eric "Badlands" Booker drank 7 cans of Moxie soda in under two minutes to win a chugging contest held at the Moxie Festival in Lisbon, Maine on Saturday.
Boonedogs in Lexington, KY will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 15 awarding $500 to the winner.
Bartolini's will hold a meatball eating contest for amateurs on July 18 in Midlothian, IL awarding $1000/$500/$250 to the top three. $1,000 in gift cards will also be awarded to the top 5. Entrants will need to qualify at the restaurant by July 17. Molly Schuyler will serve as head judge.
James Webb wins Saugus wings
update July 12 WMUR has a video
update Full official results
| 1st | 249 | James Webb | 7.77 lbs |
| 2nd | 241 | Joey “Jaws” Chestnut | 7.52 lbs, first loss for Joey Chestnut was a steak eating contest in Japan vs. Ryu in October. His last MLE defeat was the Wings for Wishes contest in Miami in March 2025. |
| 3rd | 209 | Geoffrey Esper | 6.54 lbs |
| 4th | 179 | Jerome Burns | 5.61 lbs |
| 5th | 158 | Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti | 4.95 lbs |
| 6th | 149 | Radim Dvoracek | |
| 7th | 102 | Matthew “mattachewsit” Stefanilo | |
| 8th | 97 | Brandon “The Titanium Jaw” Macey | |
| 9th | 96 | Steven Farlow | |
| 10th | 65 | Crazy Legs Conti | |
| 11th | 62 | Dave Rossi | |
| 12th | 44 | Harmon Cap | |
| 13th | 42 | Alex “Moose” Perez |
The top 6 from the Saugus wings eating contest in Seabrook, NH from James Webb’s video (results in pounds, 10 minutes)
1 7.77 James Webb
2 7.54 Joey Chestnut
3 6.54 Geoffrey Esper
4 5.61 Jerome Burns
5 4.95 Pat Bertoletti
6 4.65 Radim Dvoracek
The last loss for Joey Chestnut was a steak eating contest in Japan vs. Ryu in October. His last MLE defeat was the Wings for Wishes contest in Miami in March 2025.
The Frankfort, IN Hot Dog Festival will hold an eating contest on July 25 awarding $1,0000 to the winner.
ESPN PR announced that five million viewers watched Saturday's Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest on ABC and ESPN2, an all time record for the event. The previous highest live audience was 1.9 million in 2011.
Registration is open on MajorLeagueEating.com for The Mother Road Festival Cozy Dog Eating Championship in Springfield, IL on September 26.
USA Today on Nathan’s Famous gambling
Josh Peter of USA Today has has written an article about the post contest jumps for Miki Sudo (33->38.75) and Nick Wehry (39->45) in Saturday’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest. The increments enabled over/under bettors who wagered on overs to declare victory. Sam Barclay was responsible for boosting Miki Sudo’s count by 5, claiming a missed plate. In the ESPN Miki Sudo camera, it appears that she came into contact with at most 34 hot dogs for the duration of the contest. Retired eater Darron Breeden had the following quote:
I agree that standards need to be raised for the eaters, the fans and especially for anyone that has money tied to it,’’ said Breeden, who finished second twice. “…You want to preserve the integrity of the contest.
Miki Sudo did a radio interview for Q105. When asked about the counting issues, she said she did not know where the extra five hot dogs came from. (AI transcript from youtube)
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Molly Schuyler ate 45 hot dogs on July 4 to win the first prize of $1,000 at Stewart's in Tuckerton, NJ. Dan Kennedy was runner up with 40. update The SandPaper has a contest report and gallery
Regsitration is now open for Smoke's Poutinerie World Poutine Eating Championship in Toronto on September 19.
The Landmark Public House in Dorchester Center, MA will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 25 awarding $500 to the winner.
Horse Trading Days in Zelienople, PA will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 18 awarding $1000/#500/$250. Competitors will need to eat at least 20 hot dogs to receive the full prizes.
The Hunter & Glizzy Lizzie win Las Vegas qualifier
update July 7 The MLE contest page has finally been updated with results
| 1st | 44 | Scott “Scott Eats” Watkins | |
| 2nd | 30 | Darrien “Cheesecurd” Thomas | |
| 3rd | 20 | Sergio Reyes-Raya | |
| 4th | 12 | Mirza “Snowman” Selmic | |
| 5th | 7 | Jonathan Touzinsy | |
| 6th | 6 | Shawn Alvarez |
| 1st | 6.5 | Elizabeth “Glizzy Lizzie” Salgado | |
| 2nd | 5 | Christine Gallis | |
| 2nd | 5 | Jazmin Wilcox |
“The Hunter” from Canada and Elizabeth Salgado won today’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog qualifier at NY NY in Las Vegas. update The Las Vegas Sun has a gallery. Scott “Scott Eats” Watkins won the men’s division.
2026 Nathan’s Famous men’s contest
Results from the MLE Instagram story
| 1st | 66 | Joey “Jaws” Chestnut | |
| 2nd | 51 | Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti | |
| 3rd | 47.5 | James Webb | |
| 4th | 45 | Nick Wehry | |
| 5th | 42.5 | Max Stanford | |
| 6th | 40.5 | Geoffrey Esper | |
| 7th | 35.5 | Cameron Meade | |
| 8th | 30 | Derek Hendrickson | |
| 8th | 30 | Gideon Oji | |
| 10th | 28 | Radim Dvoracek | |
| 11th | 27 | Jerome Burns | |
| 12th | 26 | George Chiger | |
| 13th | 22 | Yunho Choi | |
| 14th | 18.5 | Tanner Gray | |
| 15th | 10.5 | Crazy Legs Conti |
Unofficial results
1 Joey Chestnut 66
2 Pat Bertolett 52
3 James Webb 48
The ESPN2/ABC Nathan’s Famous appears to have been tabled. The livestream by Live Wallking is working.
2026 Nathan’s Famous womens finals
Here are the results from MLE’s Instagram story
| 1st | 38.75 | Miki Sudo | post contest boost of 6 appeared to put her above the gambling over/under line |
| 2nd | 22 | Michelle “Cardboard Shell” Lesco | first contest since July 4, 2025 |
| 3rd | 21.5 | Domenica “Dee Street Eats” Dee | |
| 4th | 17 | Tandra Childress | |
| 5th | 16.75 | Semora Kludy | |
| 6th | 13.25 | Larell Marie “The Real Deal” Mele | |
| 7th | 11 | Katie Prettyman | |
| 8th | 10.5 | Lainey Eaton | |
| 9th | 9 | Lauren Page-Fraunfelter | |
| 10th | 7.5 | Cherish “Five Pounds” Brown | |
| 11th | 6.5 | Camille O’Brien | |
| 11th | 6.5 | Rene Rovtar |
update Miki Sudo appears to have defended her title. The last announced counts were 32 for Sudo, 21 for Michelle Lesco.
Live Walking NYC has started streaming from Coney Island and plans to show the Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contests. The women’s division is expected to start at 10:45 am Eastern.
ABC7NY is expected to livestream today's Nathan's Famous weigh-in starting at noon.
All time best Nathan’s Famous hot dog results – women
All Nathan’s Famous hot dog results of 30 or more by women follows:
All time best Nathan’s Famous results
All Nathan’s Famous hot dog results of 50 or more follows:
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Jeffrey Epstein and the mysteries of Nathan’s Famous 2018
Warning: This is a long, dark and disquieting post. Do not click “read the rest” unless you think you are in an optimal mindset.
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Yunho Choi has posted a video of his trip to Pennsylvania to compete in the Nathan's qualifier held at Hershey Park for the Nathan's Famous hot dog qualifier. He believes a plate was missed which would have given him a winning total of 30 hot dogs.
ESPN has uploaded the entire 2025 men's Nathan's Famous telecast to youtube.
Nathan’s Famous personal bests – women
A listing of all Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest personal bests for females only of 10 hot dogs or greater follows:
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Nathan’s Famous personal bests
A listing of all Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest personal bests 10 hot dogs or greater follows:
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The Daily Beast has a post about yesterday's pancake eating event held at the Great American State Fair in Washington, DC. Despite being billed as an eating contest, the winner was based on applause instead of speed or quantity.
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