This article is for quizzes on Thursday August 13th...
Joseph "Jaws" Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an
American competitive eater. The 6-foot-tall (1.8 m), 240-pound (110 kg) competitive eater is currently ranked second
[1] in the world by the
Major League Eating. He is a
Vallejo,
California native who currently resides in
San Jose, California.
On July 4, 2007, Chestnut 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 (HDB) in 12 minutes, which set a new world record. The following year, he successfully defended his title by winning a 5 hot dog eat-off after tying Kobayashi in consuming 59 HDB in 10 minutes. On July 4, 2009, Chestnut outlasted Kobayashi again, by consuming a new world record of 68 HDB and winning his third consecutive title. On July 4, 2010, Chestnut took home his 4th consecutive Mustard Belt eating 54 HDB. The 2010 contest was a runaway victory, as Kobayashi did not compete due to a contract dispute with
Major League Eating. On July 4, 2011, he won his fifth-consecutive championship with 62 HDB. 2012 marked his sixth consecutive win, when Chestnut tied his own world record from 2009 by devouring 68 HDB. In 2013, Chestnut captured his seventh straight title, eating a total of 69 HDB, breaking his previous world record. In 2014, Chestnut captured his eighth straight title eating a total of 61 HDB.
Joey Chestnut proposed to his longtime girlfriend Neslie Ricasa just before defending his title in the 2014 Nathan's competition.
The couple split up in early 2015, prior to their scheduled wedding date.
Chestnut lost the 2015 Hot Dog eating contest to
Matt Stonie.
