update July 15 TMZ has an interview with Geoff Esper about the allegations:

“There has been other cheating instances in the past,” he said. “As far as I know there was never any suspensions or anything like that. So by looking at past practices, I don’t see that’s going to happen, but I think to stop it from happening in the future something should be done.”

“If there’s no incentive not to do it, why wouldn’t someone else do it?”

update July 12 USA Today has an article with statements from Wehry and Major League Eating:

“I asked Sean how many (hot dogs) he got,’’ Wehry, 35, told USA TODAY Sports by text. “Said awesome job but it looked like more. Always recount…so we did. All of us at one point or another have been shorted a plate, double plated etc.’’

The plates, served to competitors during the event, hold five dogs and buns. After the contest, empty plates are used to determine the official tally of hot dogs and buns consumed.

The extra plate boosted Wehry’s total to 51.75 from 46.75, according to the allegations.

Yeager, who competed while standing next to Wehry, told USA TODAY Sports he did not want to comment “until someone can help us get more video (of the incident) to put this thing to bed.’’

Major League Eating (MLE), which runs the Nathan’s contest, said it investigated the matter and was taking no action against Wehry, who received $1,000 for finishing fourth.

“After being made aware of the accusation stemming from last Thursday’s contest, MLE investigated the incident, carefully considering the complaint and reviewing the videos provided to us,’’ MLE said in a statement. “Like many other professional sports leagues, it is our policy to not overturn judges’ decisions after the final results have been recorded.

“Earlier today, Nick Wehry asked MLE to lower his score to 46.75 based on his touching another eater’s plates. MLE has agreed to adjust the official count. Wehry remains the 4th place finisher of the hot dog eating contest on July 4, 2024.”

The Washington Post also has an article

update July 10 The allegations about Nick Wehry made the front page of the New York Post

update The New York Post has an article about the incident
Yesterday afternoon, the following allegations were made in a long comment about the men’s 2024 Nathan’s finals:
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Badlands Booker has defended his chugging championship. One of the other competitors had a “reversal” which appears to rival Sloth in the Wing Bowl as one of the greatest reversals in competitive eating history.

Dutch Mazz is also doing a live video that will hopefully have clearer audio than Gigi’s.

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Full results

Gigi’s Time is running a livestream

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Joey Chestnut did an interview with Sports Illustrated about his estrangement from MLE

SI: So you felt blindsided? This was just out there, and it wasn’t something you’d known would happen when you signed with Impossible, and it wasn’t something you’d heard about from the Shea brothers or Major League Eating?

JC: Absolutely not. Everything with Impossible was perfectly fine by all my previous agreements. They changed terms and conditions [around] exclusivity. And it’s not the first time they’ve changed some things, but it’s the first time they’ve really changed things after the fact, and I had to say, “Hey, it’s too late, I’ve already started working with this brand.” This was never an issue in the past. And they tried to dance around it—they changed a lot of terms, and then they escalated things to a degree they didn’t imagine when they started leaking information and telling people I was banned and that I turned vegan, which clearly isn’t the case.

SI: When was the last time you talked to the Shea brothers?

JC: They both sent me a little message saying, pretty much, that they’re sorry it got ugly. One of them said hopefully we can have beers in the future. But they’re not bad people, they’re just them, and that’s the way they are. I just—I didn’t expect it to go the way it did. I’m always willing to make concessions and willing to meet people in the middle. If I start something, I like to finish it, and if we started negotiating, I didn’t want to be sent away or banned. I thought we could finally get it. But it didn’t work out that way.

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The ESPN schedule for July 4 has been finalized and the women’s Nathan’s Famous contest will be streamed on ESPN3 yet again while ESPN2 shows the talk show “First Take”. ESPN3 will also offer individual cameras for Geoff Esper and Miki Sudo.

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Draftkings has posted odds for the 2024 men’s Nathan’s finals. Geoff Esper is the favorite at +120 (bet $100 to win $120). James webb is the second favorite at +175.

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Two days after the contest, official results have been posted on the contest page on the MLE website

Sean Yeager has started a video of this afternoon’s Nathan’s qualifier at the National Capitol BBQ Battle in Washington, DC.

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With one qualifier remaining, here are the current Nathan’s wild card standings. The number of wild card finalists has yet to be officially announced. Crazy Legs Conti said there would be four in his Gothamist column.

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update June 18 Results with full names are on the MLE contest page. Dan Downey has a contest video

Full results have been posted without full names:

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The ESPN schedule for July 4 is now out. The men’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest will be televised on ESPN2 at noon eastern and then rerun several times throughout the day. It appears the women’s competition will be relegated to streaming yet again. The 2019 documentary, “The Good, The Bad, The Hungry” will also be televised on July 4 at 10pm on ESPN2.

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Joey Chestnut announced that he will not be competing in this year’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest and his relationship with Major League Eating appears to be over. Via twitter:

I was gutted to learn from the media that after 19 years Im banned from the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest. I love competing in that event, I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country on the 4th and I have been training to defend my title. To set the record straight, I do not have a contract with MLE or Nathans and they are looking to change the rules from past years as it relates to other partners I can work with.This is apparently the basis on which I’m being banned, and it doesn’t impact the July 4th event. Sadly, this is the decision Nathan’s and Major League Eating are making, and it will deprive the great fans of the holiday’s usual joy and entertainment. To my fans, I love you and appreciate you. Rest assured that you’ll see me eat again soon!! STAY HUNGRY!

According to the New York Post, Joey Chestnut’s endorsement deal with Impossible Foods for plant-based frankfurters for $1.2 million over four years was the cause of the breakdown of the relationship. (MLE statement).

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6 hours after the competition, the MLE twitter has yet to post a winner, but the MLE instagram has some results on its stories
49.5 Geoff Esper
31 George Chiger
28 Kylan Lee (Australia)
20 Josh Krady
17.5 Mark Frost

6.75 Julie Goldberg
4.75 Addison Skaggs

update Geoff Esper (49.5) and Julie Goldberg (6.75) were today’s winners via the Lake Compounce instagram stories

Geoff Esper, George Chiger, Josh Krady and Julie Goldberg are expected to compete in this afternoon’s Nathan’s qualifier at Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT.

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Official results from today’s Nathan’s qualifier at Parma Rib ‘N Rock in Parma, OH. update News 5 Cleveland has an article

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