Once again, the best hot dog eater in the world is an American. More than 40,000 people came to Coney Island to see Joey "Jaws" Chestnut obliterate the competition with 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes. His main rival, Kobayashi, placed second with 64 dogs.
Two contenders from the Kansas City regional were in the competition. Gravy Brown, who won here, finished 10th overall, consuming 30 hot dogs. Jim Reeves, who had flown from Buffalo into Kansas City for the regional only to place second finished 12th with 28.5 hot dogs (he later earned a coveted trip to Coney Island in Atlanta). At the 12-second mark in the video below, you can see Reeves desperately trying to make a comeback with the two-handed approach.
A month ago, Reeves and Brown both said there was no chance they could beat either Chestnut or Kobayashi and
that the competition was about enjoying the experience.
For
Reeves, it was particularly poignant since he'd been trying to make it back to Coney Island since 2004. "It's a
once-in-a-lifetime experience. At least so far," he said, referring to
the fact he was perennially in second place at regional competitions.
For
Brown, it was chance for redemption. Last year he enjoyed the perks of
New York City a little too much the night before and finished with only
27 dogs. This year he promised to control himself and did, finishing three dogs better.
Not that anybody in the crowd cared about the
count. When it comes down to it, all they wanted was to make sure the
coveted Mustard Belt stayed on American ground and thanks to Chestnut's
heroics, it did.
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