Joey Chestnut

Infobox Person
name = Joey "Jaws" Chestnut

---

birth_date =birth date and age|1983|11|25
birth_place = San Jose, California
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Professional/competitive eater
spouse =
parents = Merlin and Alicia Chestnut
children =

Joseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. On July 4, 2007, he won the 92nd Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, beating six-time defending champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi by consuming 66 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes, which set a new world record. On July 4, 2008, he successfully defended his title by winning a 5 hot dog eat-off after tying Kobayashi in consuming 59 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.

Eating history

The San José State University student entered the competitive eating 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. That same year, during Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, Chestnut downed 32 hot dogs and buns,what placing third behind Takeru Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas.

Chestnut continued to impress the public 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 beat her by eating 91 hamburgers in the Finals, a close second to the 97 hamburgers consumed by Kobayashi.

Chestnut qualified for the 2006 Nathan's Contest by eating 50 hot dogs with buns. As July 4 approached, there was speculation that 2006 might be the year when Kobayashi would be beaten.Fact|date=July 2008 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 and Kobayashi at 53-3/4 (a new world record).

In 2007, Chestnut won the Wing Bowl XV, another installment of the annual Philadelphia event at the Wachovia Center. In this competition, he ate 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes, a Wing Bowl champion and record holder.

Furthermore, he is currently one of the few to successfully complete the gallon of milk challenge (in 41 seconds).

On April 17, 2008, Chestnut lost to Yardbarker Editor Dewey Hammond in a Beer Chugging contest in San Jose, California. [http://hardfortheyard.com/2008/08/joey-chestnut-beer-chug-99-seconds.html Joey Chestnut losing Beer Chugging contest video]

On July 4, 2007, Chestnut and Kobayashi battled the field in a record-setting hot dog eating battle in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, at Nathan's Contest. Chestnut knocked off Kobayashi 66-63, leading to the latter's first defeat in the contest in six years.

On October 28, 2007 between 2:33 and 2:41, Chestnut ate 103 Krystals in the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was Chestnut's personal best, and is the new world record.

Starting off 2008 very well, Chestnut has already set two new world records. He devoured 241 wings in 30 minutes at the Wing Bowl XVI in Philadelphia on February 1, and he ate 78 matzah balls during Kenny & Ziggy's World Matzoh Ball Eating Championship in Houston, Texas on March 2.

On July 4, 2008, Chestnut tied Kobayashi in the Nathan's Contest after eating 59 HDB in 10 minutes. The tie resulted in a 5-hotdog eat-off. Chestnut won the eat-off by eating the 5 hotdogs in the shortest time. The 59 is a new record in the competition based on the reduction to 10 minutes. Chestnut, 24, weighed in at 102 kilograms (225 pounds). [ [http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080706/FEAT0108/807060331 journalgazette.net, 3RF contest could be a wiener] ]

On July 28, 2008, Chestnut lost to Takeru Kobayashi in Chicken Satay eating in the MLE Asia inaugural event. Chestnut consumed just over 4 Kilos of Chicken Satay while Kobayashi ate almost 5.5 Kilos.

On August 23, 2008 Chestnut defeated #2 IFOCE ranked competitive eater Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti in the 2nd Gyoza Eating Championship in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California. Chestnut devoured 231 gyozas setting a new World Record and beat his previous record of 212 set in 2006. In the inaugural event in 2006, Chestnut narrowly defeated Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas by eating 212 to her 210. Thomas did not attend the 2008 event due to unknown reasons. Gyoza is a Japanese translation for Chinese dumplings or potstickers in America.

Training

Chestnut trains by fasting and by stretching his stomach with milk and water. [Ben Dorries, Late mail, The Courier Mail (Australia), pg. 103, July 6, 2007] Three days before winning a chicken-eating contest in Boston, in November 2005, Chestnut drank gallons of water in under one minute and ate buffalo wings to get his stomach accustomed to them. [Russell Nichols, Boston Globe, pg. B4, November 13, 2005] As of July 4, 2006, his competition weight was 220 pounds (100 kg). [Another Blow Below the Mustard Belt, The Canberra Times, July 9, 2006]

World records held by Joey Chestnut

*Sandwiches: 59 peanut butter sandwiches in 10 minutes on june 19 2005.
*Waffles: 18.5 waffles (8 oz.) in 10 minutes at Waffle House at the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship in Atlanta, Georgia on September 4, 2005.
*Jalapeno Poppers: 118 Jalapeño Poppers in 10 minutes during the GoldenPalace.net Intercollegiate Eating Championship at the University of Arizona in Tucson on April 8, 2006.
*Grilled Cheese Sandwiches: 47 sandwiches in 10 minutes at the Thomas & Mack Center during the GoldenPalace.net Grilled Cheese Contest in Las Vegas on June 10, 2006.
*Pork Ribs: 8.4 pounds pork rib meat in 12 minutes at Chinook Winds at the World Rib Eating Championship in Lincoln City, Oregon on July 16, 2006.
*Horseshoe Sandwiches: 6 pounds, 5 ounces of horseshoe sandwiches at the Illinois State Fair during the GoldenPalace.net World Horseshoe Eating Championship in Springfield, Illinois on August 12, 2006.
*Gyoza: 231 during Nisei Week in Little Tokyo in 10 minutes during the World Gyoza Eating Championship in Los Angeles on August 23, 2008.
*Pulled Pork: 9 pounds, 6 ounces in 10 minutes during the Harrah's Pulled Pork Eating Championship in Council Bluffs, Iowa on September 16, 2006.
*Asparagus: 8.8 pounds of tempura-fried asparagus at the World Deep Fried Asparagus Eating Championship in Stockton, California, on April 26, 2008 . [cite news | title=Video of Asparagus World Record | work=SportsWrap | date=2008-04-28 | url=http://sportswrap.berecruited.com/2008/04/27/joey-chestnut-breaks-deep-fried-asparagus-world-record-videos/ ]
*Chicken Wings: 7.05 pounds of wings in 12 minutes during the TripRewards Ultimate Hot Wing Eating Champion in New York City on May 21, 2007.
*Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs and buns (short form): 59 hot dog and buns in 10 minutes during the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY on July 4, 2008.
*Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs and buns (long form): 66 hot dog and buns in 12 minutes during the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island on July 4, 2007. [cite news | title=Joey Chestnut wins on July 4 | work=MyFoxNY.com | date=2007-07-04 | url=http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=5BE09466335B31E9C4A54EAD0E1C27CB?contentId=3680502&version=4&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1 ]
*Pizza Hut P'Zones: 4.82 pounds of Pizza Hut P'Zones in 6 minutes in New York City on July 10, 2007.
*Pulled Pork Sandwiches: 45 Pulled Pork Sandwiches in 10 minutes during the Myrtle Beach World BBQ Eating Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on September 1, 2007.
*Hamburgers: 103 Krystal Hamburgers in eight minutes at the Krystal Square Off Finals in Chattanooga, Tennessee on October 28, 2007.
*Chicken Wings: 241 wings at Wing Bowl XVI in Philadelphia, on February 1, 2008. [cite news | title=Joey Chestnut wins again | work=Philly.com | date=2008-02-01 | url=http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/wingbowl/20080201_Wing_by_wing.html ]
*Matzah Balls: 78 matzah balls at Kenny & Ziggy's World Matzoh Ball Eating Championship in Houston on March 2, 2008.
*Kolaches: 56 sausage & cheese kolaches at The Kolache Factory's World Kolache Eating Championship in Houston on September 14, 2007.

References

External links

* [http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2008/07/04/joey-chestnut-beats-takeru-kobayashi-at-coney-island-hot-dog-eat/ Joey Chestnut Beats Takeru Kobayashi]
* [http://www.ifoce.com/eaters.php?action=detail&sn=106 International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) profile]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/sioncampus/07/05/nathans.hotdog/index.html Sports Illustrated feature on 2006 contest]
* [http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?pagename=article&articleid=26088 The Wave Magazine profile and interview]
* [http://www.foodbanknyc.org/index.cfm?objectid=E8A8E473-FF43-391F-1C91FE6FEF5AAF8E&flushcache=1 Photos from the TripRewards 2007 Ultimate Hotwing Eating Contest]
* [http://eatfeats.com/query.php?_table=eaters&id=3 Eat Feats Profile]
* [http://islandwoo.com/2008/07/07/2008-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-winners/ Video of Joey Chestnut with Trophy]