Now that’s a lot to swallow!
Competitive eating phenomenon Joey “Jaws” Chestnut was the “wiener” in more than one way at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest Friday — not only downing an impressive 61 hot dogs, but proposing to his longtime girlfriend in front of the drenched and cheering contest crowd.
“I feel great!” Chestnut said after winning both the contest and his girlfriend’s betrothal Friday in Coney Island.
Chestnut, 30, and his sweetheart, Neslie Ricasa — who herself has now adopted competitive eating — have not set a date for tying the knot, but expect that hot dogs will likely be part of the menu when the happy day arrives.
“The hot dogs were a little rubbery and hard to chew because of the rain,” Chestnut noted of the day’s steady downpour.
Soggy buns may be easier to swallow, but waterlogged franks made for tough going for Chestnut, a now-eight-time reigning champion who had hoped in vain to break his own 2013 record of 69 hotdogs Friday.
“I was preparing to eat 70-plus hot dogs today,” he said. Still, “it was a great contest.”
The hard part, actually, was the public marriage proposal, he said.
“Proposing was scary,” he said, noting that he and his fiancée, who also competed Friday, downing 10 dogs, would spend the day sleeping off their gigantic lunches.
“I think people will be disappointed if we don’t serve hot dogs at the wedding, noted Ricasa, who lives with Chestnut in San Jose. “Doing it here next year would be awesome. Anything is a possibility!”
Earlier in the day, two-time defending women’s hot dog eating chomp-ion Sonya Thompson lost her coveted title to upstart Miki Sudo in a fierce, rain-drenched woman-eat-dog battle.
Sudo, 28, of Las Vegas, scarfed down 34 wieners in 10 minutes to win the women’s division of the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Thompson, 47, managed to down only 27 and ³/4 dogs.
The native of South Korea, who now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, had been a strong favorite in the competition, given her record-setting devouring last year of 45 dogs and buns.
