Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams watches Joey Chestnut, left, and Matt Stonie, right, during a news conference to promote the upcoming Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot-Dog Eating Contest Friday, July 3, 2015, at Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York. (Frank Franklin II, The Associated Press)
For the first time since 2000, someone not named Takeru Kobayashi or Joey Chestnut is the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion.
Matt Stonie, the No. 2-ranked eater according to Major League Eating, consumed 62 hot dogs Saturday, edging out the eight-time champion Chestnut’s 60 to win the coveted yellow mustard belt.
“I just came prepared,” Stonie said in an interview with ESPN after his victory.
Stonie, 23, has been increasing his numbers yearly since making his Nathan’s debut in 2011, when he consumed 34 hot dogs. Last year, he ate 56, just five behind Chestnut.
