{"id":268178,"date":"2026-06-16T03:30:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T03:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/268178\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T03:30:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T03:30:52","slug":"joey-chestnut-miki-sudo-set-to-defend-titles-at-2026-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-in-coney-island-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/268178\/","title":{"rendered":"Joey Chestnut, Miki Sudo set to defend titles at 2026 Nathan\u2019s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

The borough\u2019s most iconic Fourth of July tradition is set to return to Coney Island next month as competitive eating legends Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo prepare to defend their titles at the 2026 Nathan\u2019s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Championship.<\/p>\n

The annual, frankly one-of-a-kind, spectacle will take place July 4 outside the Nathan\u2019s Famous flagship restaurant<\/a> at the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues, where thousands of spectators are expected to gather for one of the world\u2019s most recognizable summer events.<\/p>\n

The Nathan\u2019s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Championship has been held in Coney Island every Independence Day since 1916, the year founder Nathan Handwerker opened the legendary restaurant. More than a century later, the contest remains one of Brooklyn\u2019s most enduring summer traditions, drawing fans from across the globe for a red-hot celebration of competition and America. <\/p>\n

\"\"The Nathan\u2019s Famous contest attracts thousands of visitors across the globe each year.File photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n

Chestnut reclaimed<\/a> the coveted Mustard Belt in 2025 after consuming 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. This year,\u00a0 he aims to break his world record of 76 hot dogs and buns. In the women\u2019s competition, Sudo continued her reign by eating 33 hot dogs and buns, while also holding the women\u2019s world record of 51.<\/p>\n

This year, both champions will face off against elite competitive eaters from around the U.S. and the globe in front of a live Coney Island crowd and national television audience.
\n\"\"The annual competition take place at Nathan\u2019s Coney Island flagship.Photo by Dean Moses\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNathan\u2019s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest remains one of our nation\u2019s most beloved holiday traditions,\u201d said Phil McCann, Vice President of Marketing at Nathan\u2019s Famous. \u201cEvery July 4th, Coney Island becomes the center of the American summer celebration, and we are thrilled to welcome fans from around the world back to Surf and Stillwell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Festivities will begin at 10 a.m. with live music and dance performances ahead of the competitions. The women\u2019s championship is set to start at 11 a.m., followed by the men\u2019s contest at 12:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

The event also continues a longstanding charitable tradition, where Nathan\u2019s Famous donates 100,000 hot dogs to Food Bank For New York City.
\n\"\"Reigning champs Chestnut and Sudo will try to break their world records of 76 and 51, respectively.Photo courtesy of Paul Martinka\/Nathan\u2019s Famous\n<\/p>\n

The 2026 contest will also introduce a new partnership with the Chinet brand, which joins the event as an official partner and will provide plates for the competition. <\/p>\n

George Shea, chair of Major League Eating, said the event continues to hold a unique place in American culture and competitive sports.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Nathan\u2019s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest stands as an enduring beacon of freedom for our nation and the world,\u201d said Shea. \u201cWe look forward to watching the greatest eaters compete once again on the most celebrated stage in international sports.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The borough\u2019s most iconic Fourth of July tradition is set to return to Coney Island next month as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,10454,100,99,89502,119,81231,40550,103578,8078,89503,103579,103580,103581,49015,9,24,370,63,103582,103583],"class_list":["post-268178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-events","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-competitive-eating","tag-coney-island","tag-coney-island-events","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-hot-dog-eating-contest","tag-independence-day","tag-joey-chestnut","tag-major-league-eating","tag-miki-sudo","tag-nathans-hot-dogs","tag-nathans-famous","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-summer-in-brooklyn","tag-surf-avenue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}