The world’s best eater will brave the battle in the sport’s premiere event on Monday, July 4th.
Joey Chestnut shocked the competitive dining community on Friday when he limped into the Hudson Yards in New York City on crutches during the official weighing session ahead of the 2022 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest – a July 4th Coney Island tradition.
“I would eat like a madman,” the world’s top-rated eater told Fox News Digital before weighing in at 235 pounds.
“It was a broken tendon,” he explained of his injury.
“It’s okay. I will be able to get up and eat. I am very excited. ”
Famed 14-time champion Nathan wore a black cast underneath his right knee and walked on crutches under each arm.
“I don’t eat with my feet,” Chestnut told fans.
Chestnut, 38, of Indiana, broke his own world record last year by consuming an incredible 76 hot dogs and pies in just 10 minutes in 2021 Famous Nathan’s Sausage eating contest.
He declined to specify what caused his leg injury, saying only that “life happened”.
“As barren hills, cracked earth, and once proud oceans turn to sand, there will still be a monument to our existence,” said host George Shea, host of The Lifetime show. Nathan’s famous Hot Dog Eating contest, about the reigning champion.
“This man represents all that is eternal in the human spirit.”
The women’s division delivers a highly anticipated vengeful showdown between 2021 champion Michelle Lesco and reigning champion Miki Sudo, who has won seven consecutive titles between 2014 and 2021.
Lesco missed the 2020 miniature contest – held indoors that year without an audience – because of pandemic travel restrictions.
Sudo, the world’s top dieter, was unable to compete last year because she was pregnant with Max, whose father is not. 3rd place male competitor Nick Wehry.
“I’m so excited to be back,” Sudo said.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten a hot dog in front of a crowd of Coneys.”
Nathan’s famous sausage eating contest was first held in 1916.
The Independence Day contest returned to its traditional venue on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenue on Monday for the first time since 2019.