Background and career
Joseph Christian Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater who holds 55 world records across 55 disciplines, and is currently ranked first in the world by Major League Eating. He has won the Mustard Yellow Belt a record 18 times. Chestnut is widely considered to be the greatest competitive eater in history. On July 4, 2007, Chestnut won the 92nd Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest held in Coney Island, Brooklyn. He defeated six-time defending champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi by consuming a world record 66 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in 12 minutes, after losing to Kobayashi in 2005 and 2006. Chestnut would go on to win eight consecutive titles from 2007 to 2014, setting a Nathan's record of 69 HDB in 2013. Chestnut lost the 2015 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest to Matt Stonie. On July 4, 2016, he regained the championship belt from Stonie by eating 70 HDB. Chestnut would win the title from 2016 to 2023, setting the current contest record in 2021 with 76 HDB. Chestnut was banned from participating in the 2024 contest due to a competing sponsorship with Impossible Foods. In September 2024, he competed against Kobayashi in a live-streamed Netflix event titled Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef, setting a new world record by consuming 83 HDB in 10 minutes. He returned to the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2025, winning his 17th title by eating 70.5 HDB, and won his 18th title in 2026 with 66 HDB.
Chestnut was born in Fulton County, Kentucky, and grew up in Vallejo, California; he currently resides in Westfield, Indiana. Chestnut earned a degree in engineering and construction management from San Jose State University.
Chestnut, a San Jose State University student, entered the competitive eating scene in 2005 with a break-out performance in the deep-fried asparagus eating championship, where he beat high-ranked eater Rich LeFevre by eating 6.3 pounds (2.9 kg) of asparagus in 11.5 minutes. That same year, during Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, Chestnut ate 32 HDB, placing third behind Takeru Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas. On October 22, Chestnut set a new world record for downing 32.5 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes at the Arizona State Fair, as part of the GoldenPalace.net World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship circuit. Chestnut defeated Thomas in the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship and placed second to Kobayashi in a Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship qualifier, eating 56 Krystal Burgers in eight minutes to his 67.
Chestnut qualified for the 2006 Nathan's Contest by eating 50 HDB. As July 4 approached, there was speculation that 2006 might be the year when Kobayashi would be beaten. However, that was not to be. Although Chestnut turned in a great performance, leading Takeru Kobayashi through most of the contest, the final tally put Chestnut at 52 and Kobayashi at 53+3⁄4 (a new world record). Chestnut lost to Kobayashi in the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He ate 45 bratwurst sausages in 10 minutes while Kobayashi ate 58. In October, Chestnut placed second at the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship, eating 91 hamburgers in eight minutes to Kobayashi's 97.
In 2007, Chestnut won the Wing Bowl XV, an annual Philadelphia event at the Wachovia Center. In this competition, he ate 182 chicken wings in 30 minutes, becoming a Wing Bowl champion and record holder. Chestnut was seen on a YouTube video drinking a gallon of milk in 41 seconds.
On July 4, Chestnut and Kobayashi battled the field in a record-setting hot dog eating battle in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. He knocked off Kobayashi 66–63, leading to the latter's first defeat in the contest in six years. On October 28, between 2:33 and 2:41, Chestnut ate 103 Krystal burgers in the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was Chestnut's personal best, and is the new world record.
