Across the decades, success in sports is defined by sustained excellence. Beginning in 1959, the Boston Celtics dominated the NBA. The Celtics won eight NBA championships between 1959 and 1966. To date, it’s still the longest consecutive title run in professional team sports.
The Montreal Canadiens secured the NHL’s Stanley Cup four consecutive times once, and five during another streak. The New York Yankees have more World Series titles than any other team. Inside the Yankees’ 27 championships are consecutive streaks as well.
Like Montreal, New York had a four-year consecutive streak plus a five-year run. There have likewise been impressive streaks in college sports. The most noteworthy is the UCLA Bruins’ dominance of men’s college basketball during the late-1960s through the early 1970s.
The Bruins captured 10 NCAA men’s basketball titles during a 12-year stretch. During that period of dominance, UCLA also amassed an 88-game winning streak. But throughout all the historic periods of championship dominance, one name may stand above all the rest.
Sure, hot dog eating may not qualify in some circles as a sport. But participants actually train to improve their performance. A sports scientist has even provided a scientific analysis of how many hot dogs a person can consume.
In some respects, Nathan’s National Hot Dog Eating Contest has received media attention similar to that of many of our cherished sports title games. If hot dog eating has even the most remote connection to sports, it has its own legend.
Since Japan’s Takeru Kobayashi ripped off six consecutive Nathan’s titles, Joey Chestnut has essentially obliterated the competition. Since his first title in 2007, Chestnut has lost the annual dog eating contest only once.
Chestnut ran an eight-year string before he was dethroned by Matt Stonie in 2015, but by only two hot dogs. The following year, the hot dog eating legend started a new streak, which continued with his winning the 2022 title.
Like the legendary Tom Brady, Chestnut just seems to get better with age. In claiming this season’s hot dog crown, Chestnut obliterated the competition. He eviscerated the next closest competitor by 20 hot dogs.
The annual championship was back at its host site, the original Nathan’s at Surf Avenue and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn. In winning his 15th Nathan’s title, the 37-year-old gobbled down 63 hot dogs. That’s 6.3 dogs per minute during the 10-minute time limit.
Fans were extremely excited to see the Fourth of July competition back at its beloved location. One Brooklyn resident said, “I would always come to Coney Island every Fourth of July for this competition, so being back in person as we emerge from the pandemic feels great.”
Not to be outdone by his historic hot dog performance, Chestnut took a break to subvert the attempts of a degenerate protester from disrupting the event. The world’s number one ranked hot dog eater corralled the protester and then proceeded to corral the competition.
According to Yahoo,
AM NY reports that midway through the competition, perennial champ Joey Chestnut was bumped by an animal-rights activist who rushed the stage. While the protestor donned a Darth Vader mask, the force was not with him.
After being shoved by the protestor, Chestnut, who was competing with a broken leg, immediately put the man in a brief chokehold. Despite the incident, Chestnut continued to wolf down hot dogs and managed to bring home first place, eating 63. Unfortunately, the number was quite a few dogs short of his record of 76 hot dogs. Second place this year went to Geoffrey Esper, who scarfed down 47.5 hot dogs.
The police hauled the disruptor away, and Chestnut hauled home the hot dog hardware for yet another year. If champions are truly remembered for their sustained excellence, Joey Chestnut has earned a place atop the list, along with the rest of the sports world’s elite champions.