Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest 2024 winner: Patrick Bertoletti wins with Joey Chestnut

Live39 updates

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 11:29 AM PDT

  JoeyWatch: Joey Chestnut promotes his own hot dog competition

  Minutes before the men’s hot dog eating contest kicked off, Joey Chestnut took to social media to wish everyone a happy holiday and promote his own competition. The 16-time champion will be taking on four soldiers at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, with the goal of out-eating all four soldiers combined. The competition will raise money for military families.

  HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!! I’m getting ready to eat hot dogs against soldiers at Fort Bliss Army base!! Live stream starts at 5pm ET!https://t.co/rFc85ymZR0

  — Joey Chestnut (@joeyjaws) July 4, 2024

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 10:18 AM PDT

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 10:03 AM PDT

  ‘Always the bridesmaid’ no more

  Bertoletti’s key to taking the belt today? Hot water and relentlessness. “I wasn’t going to stop eating until the job was done,” he said.

  “I was able to unlock something that I don’t know where it came from, but I’m not complaining,” Bertoletti added in a post-contest interview.

  Coming into today, Bertoletti was the No. 9 ranked eater in the world. But starting tomorrow, that will change.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 10:00 AM PDT

  It’s over! Pat Bertoletti is the champ!

  James Webb of Australia comes in third place with 52 dogs and buns consumed.

  Geoffrey Esper lands in second place with 53 dogs and buns consumed.

  But Chicago’s Pat Bertoletti has done it! The results are official! With 58 dogs and buns consumed, a personal best, he has won the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest!

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:56 AM PDT

  We’re still waiting for the official results, but if it holds, it’ll be Bertoletti as the winner.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:54 AM PDT

  Bertoletti has the late lead!

  One minute left! Bertoletti has reached 50 dogs and he has a consistent three-dog lead!

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:53 AM PDT

  Bertoletti has jumped out to a two-dog lead and continues to hold that. His cheeks are stuffed full like a chipmunk and he is in the zone.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:51 AM PDT

  With four minutes left Wehry has slowed down considerably. Webb and Bertoletti have been knotted at the top for the last minute, matching each other dog for dog. But Esper is making a late play!

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:49 AM PDT

  It’s still anyone’s contest…

  With seven minutes remaining, everyone is still bunched up. No one has staked out a clear lead yet, but Bertoletti, Webb, Whery, Esper, and Yamamoto have consistently been in the top five. The winner will be one of them.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:48 AM PDT

  The top competitors are going to for the “dunk-and-shove” method, where you dump the dogs — bun and all — into liquid before shoveling into your mouth. Most use water, but Esper, the world No. 2, is seemingly using a violently red beverage (strawberry lemonade? cherry soda? red Gatorade?) to help facilitate his eating.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:46 AM PDT

  Ten minutes starts now!

  We’re off! Wehry has an early lead, with Bertoletti and Webb chasing close behind.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:39 AM PDT

  Another great one from George Shea, about Nick Wehry.

  “And so shall history hear the echoes of itself in the triumphs of this man. 50 hard boiled eggs in three minutes and four seconds, two gallons of baby food, 48 hot dogs and buns…”

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:37 AM PDT

  George Shea is at the mic making his inimitable intros for the men’s competitors. Here’s a sample.

  “The child of pain, who lays in the blood soaked bed of roses of the damned … a man so evil they put him in prison in hell. Hell prison!”

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:33 AM PDT

  While the women’s competition had a number of amateurs alongside pros like Miki Sudo, this men’s contest has some high-ranked competitors, with previous big wins under their belts and top rankings in their respective countries. Who will break through to take the title?

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:30 AM PDT

  ESPN is doing a tribute to the absent Joey Chestnut, comparing him to Mozart and Picasso, as well as Babe Ruth and Warren Buffett (?).

  Convoluted comparisons aside, competing without Chestnut is a tough blow for Nathan’s, but opens up the field for a new winner to take the mustard belt. Geoffrey Esper, the No. 2 in Major League Eating’s rankings, has a chance to take the title, while Australian James Webb, the No. 5, could also pull out a victory.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:29 AM PDT

  Power eating’s power couple

  Miki Sudo, the 2024 women’s champ and new women’s record holder, is not the only one in her family involved in competitive eating. She’s half of a power-eating power couple with world No. 4 Nicholas Wehry, who has a chance to win it all with Joey Chestnut out of the picture.

  They could be the first husband and wife to be reigning champions of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

  When downing dozens of hot dogs leads to true love‼️Meet the first couple of the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest who could win it all: pic.twitter.com/l83ImnnoRL

  — Michele Steele (@MicheleSteele) July 3, 2024

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:10 AM PDT

  Eric “Badlands” Booker polishes off a gallon of lemonade in 21 seconds to set a new world record in the lemonade chug. The other competitors don’t even come close. Legendary.

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 9:04 AM PDT

  We’re just minutes away from the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest!

  With 16-time champ Joey Chestnut banned, the main question is this: will any of these competitors be able match Miki Sudo’s 51 dogs and buns, the mark she set in the women’s competition earlier today?

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 8:52 AM PDT

  Coney Island weather update

  The 2023 main event was plagued by rain and lightning, and only started after a delay. Will the 2024 contest suffer the same fate?

  It doesn’t appear so. Forecasts show cloudy skies but no rain over Coney Island for the next few hours. Let the eating commence!

• Thu, July 4, 2024 at 8:48 AM PDT

  Need a palate cleanser before the men’s competition? Here’s a look from the lemonade-chugging contest earlier this morning.