VOL. LIV ★ CONEY ISLAND, NY ★ JULY 4TH EDITION A GLIZZY ARCHIVE · EST. 1972 FIFTY CENTS

The Glizzy & Mustard Belt

Every Champion Since 1972
A Fourth of July Tradition

America's strangest sport, every Independence Day.

Every champion, runner-up, and viral character of the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest — the ten-minute gastric event held at Surf and Stillwell every July 4th since 1972. The record stands at seventy-six hot dogs and buns.

Men's World Record
76
Chestnut · July 4, 2021
Women's World Record
51
Sudo · July 4, 2024
Most Men's Titles
17
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut
Most Women's Titles
11
Miki Sudo
★ A Short History ★

Three things to know.

The contest is younger, weirder, and more recently invented than it claims.

1867
The hot dog on a bun

German immigrant Charles Feltman sells the first sausage-in-a-roll from a Coney Island pushcart. Nathan Handwerker, his bun-slicer, opens a competing stand at half the price in 1916.

1972
The contest, actually

Nathan's claims the contest began in 1916 — a story two publicists, Morty Matz and Max Rosey, admitted fabricating in the early 1970s. The first verified contest is 1972.

2001
Kobayashi's revolution

A 23-year-old from Nagano eats 50 hot dogs — doubling the previous record. He invents the Solomon Method (split the dog, dunk the bun) and wins six straight.

★ The Ledger ★

Every year, every winner.

Three eras, three strips. Scroll horizontally through each one. Each card breaks down the year — champion, runner-up, count, and what mattered.

The Boardwalk Years 1972 – 2000 · The original 28 contests
Avg. count
15
The Kobayashi Era 2001 – 2006 · The sport is reinvented
Avg. count
50.2
The Chestnut Era 2007 – Present · Television, ESPN, the 76
Avg. count
66.8
★ The Roster ★

The champions.

Six eaters who turned a boardwalk novelty into a televised sport.

#1 ALL-TIMEG.O.A.T
JC
Joey Chestnut

Joey Chestnut

"Jaws"
Vallejo, California · Born Nov 25, 1983
Belts
17
Record
76HDB
WOMEN'S #1G.O.A.T
MS
Miki Sudo

Miki Sudo

Queen of Coney
New York, NY · Born Jul 23, 1985
Titles
11
Record
51HDB
Era FounderLegend
TK
Takeru Kobayashi

Takeru Kobayashi

"The Tsunami"
Nagano, Japan · Born Mar 15, 1978
Belts
6
Reign
2001-06
2015 UpsetChampion
MS
Matt Stonie

Matt Stonie

"Megatoad"
San Jose, California · Born May 24, 1992
Belts
1
Won
2015
Inaugural Women'sPioneer
ST
Sonya Thomas

Sonya Thomas

"The Black Widow"
Alexandria, Virginia · Born Jul 26, 1967
Titles
3
Reign
2011-13
2024 ChampionChampion
PB
Patrick Bertoletti

Patrick Bertoletti

"Deep Dish"
Chicago, Illinois · Born Jun 6, 1985
Belts
1
Won
2024
★ Honorable Mentions ★

The supporting cast.

The viral characters, perennial runners-up, and cult favorites who never put on the belt — but made the broadcast.

GE
Geoffrey Esper
"The Vermin"
Perennial podium finisher. Has finished 2nd at Nathan's five times, including 2024 (53 HDB). The eternal challenger.
Best finish · 2nd
NW
Nick Wehry
married to Miki Sudo
Top-5 contender. Married Miki Sudo in 2024. The first contest "power couple" — the men's runner-up shares a household with the women's champion.
Best finish · 4th
CC
Carmen Cincotti
YouTube's #1 eater
Runs the most-watched competitive-eating YouTube channel. Has finished 2nd at Nathan's twice. A bridge between the sport and its meme economy.
Best finish · 2nd · 2017
CL
Crazy Legs Conti
"Crazy Legs"
The Coney Island folk hero. Famous beyond the contest for being briefly trapped inside a popcorn-filled coffin during a 2002 stunt.
Best finish · 9th · multiple appearances
BB
Eric Booker
"Badlands"
MTA train conductor by day, competitive eater and rapper by side hustle. Has released hot-dog-themed hip-hop albums. A cult fixture of the early ESPN broadcasts.
Best finish · 5th · 2003
ML
Don Lerman
"Moses"
The era's biggest character. Held world records in matzo, mayonnaise (a quart in eight minutes), and butter. The pre-Kobayashi face of competitive eating.
Active · 1996 – 2008
★ Sources & Method ★

Where the data comes from.

Every figure on this page is sourced from a primary or authoritative secondary record. Click through to verify.

  1. [1]
    Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest — complete winners list, 1972 to present en.wikipedia.org
  2. [2]
    Major League Eating · Official Contest Records & Sanctioning Body majorleagueeating.com
  3. [3]
    Nathan's Famous · Hot Dog Eating Contest Hall of Fame nathansfranks.sfdbrands.com
  4. [4]
    Washington Post · "Nathan's hot dog eating contest didn't actually start in 1916" (2023) washingtonpost.com
  5. [5]
    Joey Chestnut — biographical data, world records, title history en.wikipedia.org
  6. [6]
    Takeru Kobayashi — biographical data, the Solomon Method, 2010 arrest en.wikipedia.org
  7. [7]
    Miki Sudo — biographical data, women's records, 11 titles en.wikipedia.org
  8. [8]
    Smithsonian Magazine · The origin of the Coney Island hot dog smithsonianmag.com
  9. [9]
    6sqft · Before Nathan's there was Feltman's (Charles Feltman, 1867) 6sqft.com
  10. [10]
    Bleacher Report · 2025 Nathan's Contest — results and all-time records bleacherreport.com
  11. [11]
    Food Republic · The popular origin story is a myth (the Matz & Rosey confession) foodrepublic.com
  12. [12]
    Feltman's of Coney Island · About — the 1867 origin of the hot dog on a bun feltmansofconeyisland.com

Method: Year-by-year counts cross-checked against Wikipedia (primary), Major League Eating (sanctioning body), and Nathan's official Hall of Fame. Where sources disagree on early-1970s and -1980s figures (often by ½ a hot dog), we defer to MLE's published record. Eater biographical data drawn from Wikipedia infoboxes. Portraits via Wikimedia Commons.