Joey Chestnut Devours 12th National Hot Dog Eating Championship

CONEY ISLAND, NY — Eating champion Joey Chestnut has again devoured the winning title at Nathan's July Fourth hot dog eating contest on Coney Island, downing 71 hot dogs and buns on Thursday. It marked Chestnut's 12th title at the event, although he didn't break the 74-dog record he set in 2018.

Chestnut, nicknamed "Jaws," had 10 minutes to earn the coveted Mustard Belt from Nathan's Famous. "I feel like I should eat a couple more," he told reporters after claiming the crown, CBS reports.

Miki Sudo won the women's competition by eating 31 hot dogs, earning her sixth straight title.

Chestnut, 35, defeated Geoffrey Esper, the No. 2-ranked Eater in the World by Major League Eating and the World Pizza Eating Champion; Matt Stonie, the 2015 champion and the No.3-ranked Eater in the World, and 15 others, CNN reports.

At one point, Chestnut was on track to eat nearly 90 hot dogs, but slowed his pace. Darron Breeden finished in second place after eating 48 hot dogs.

Peter King, a writer for NBC Sports and Sports Illustrated columnist, on Wednesday criticized ESPN's recent documentary focused on Chestnut and the hot dog eating contest.

“A shame that as at least a fifth of children in America go to bed hungry nightly they’re highlighting gluttony, treating someone who overeats excessively as a ‘competitive athlete.’ Truly disgusting,” King tweeted.

Chestnut responded that King was unfair, noting that Major League Eating donates to food banks.

“I think Peter King … he’s kind of narrow-minded,” Chestnut told TMZ Sports before the 2019 event. “He’s picking low-hanging fruit. It’s easy to criticize something. He could easily criticize NASCAR for greenhouse gas emissions."

The contest held on New York City's Coney Island boardwalk began in 1916. The ESPN documentary "The Good, the Bad, the Hungry" focused on Chestnut and his overshadowing of Takeru Kobayashi as hot dog champ, USA Today reports.