Joey Chestnut
Joseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is a competitive eater from San Jose, California, currently ranked second in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He beat the American hot dog eating record on July 4, 2006 by eating 52 HDBs (hot dogs and buns) in twelve minutes at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Joey set the World Record on June 2, 2007 during the Southwest Regional qualifier for Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe, AZ, by eating 59.5 hot dogs and buns (Video).
Eating history
The San José State University student entered the scene in 2005 with a break-out performance in the deep-fried asparagus eating championship, in which he beat high-ranked eater Rich LeFevre by eating 6.3 pounds of asparagus in 11.5 minutes. In the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, Chestnut downed 52 hot dogs, placing second behind Takeru Kobayashi.
Chestnut continued to impress by beating Sonya Thomas in the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship and placing second to her in a Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship qualifier, downing 56 Krystal Burgers in eight minutes to her 57. He later easily beat her in the Finals. This phenom, who was favorite for Rookie of the Year in 2006, then did the unthinkable, eating 91 hamburgers in the championship, a close second to the 97 hamburgers consumed by Takeru Kobayashi.
In 2007 Joey Chestnut won Wing Bowl XV, another installment of the annual Philadelphia event at the Wachovia Center. In the competition he ate 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes, a Wing Bowl record.
He is famous for training with cheese fries. He is known to be able to eat over two pounds in 5 minutes.
Chestnut qualified for the 2006 Nathan's contest by eating 50 HDBs. As July 4 approached, there was speculation that 2006 might be the year when the great Kobayashi met his match. It was not to be, however. Although Chestnut turned in a great performance leading Kobayashi through most of the contest, the final tally put Chestnut at 52, Kobayashi at 53-3/4 (a new record).
Furthermore, he's one of the few to successfully complete the gallon of milk challenge (in 41 seconds). However, some consider this a relatively easy and minute task for a competitive eater of his stature.
World records
- Waffles: 18.5 Waffles (8 oz.) in 10 minutes at Waffle House in Atlanta, GA, on September 4, 2005.
- Grilled Cheese Sandwiches: 47 sandwiches in 10 minutes at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV on June 10, 2006.
- Horseshoe Sandwiches: 6 pounds, 5 ounces of horseshoe sandwiches at the Illinois State Fair on August 12. 2006.
- Gyoza: 212 chicken and vegetable gyoza during Nisei Week in Little Tokyo in 10 minutes on August 19, 2006.
- Pulled Pork: 9 pounds, 6 ounces in 10 minutes in Council Bluffs, IA on September 16, 2006.
- Chicken Wings: 182 Wings at Wing Bowl XV in Philadelphia, PA, on February 2, 2007.
- Asparagus: 8.6 pounds of tempura-fried asparagus at the Asparagus Festival in Stockton, CA, on April 28, 2007.
- Chicken Wings: 7.05 pounds of Wings in 12 minutes in New York City on May 21, 2007.
- Hot Dogs: 59.5 hot dogs in 12 minutes in Phoenix, AZ on June 2, [2007]].