Hot Dog Kids

What could be more patriotic than the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest? The annual hot dog eating competition held at Nathan's Famous original and best-known restaurant on Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. The competition is held each year on the 4th of July and is regarded world-wide as the most famous hot dog eating contest. The popularity of the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest has exploded to the point where now it's televised live on ESPN and draws millions of viewers.

There have been two main competitors at the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, one is America's own Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., who took the 2007 title back home by eating 66 hot dogs (that's hot dogs and buns) under 12 minutes for a new world record, beating his long-time adversary Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi from Japan. Takeru Kobayashi has taken the title seven straight times - from 2000 until losing in 2007 to Chestnut. But in 2008, at the online sportsbook BodogSports, Joey Chestnut is the favorite to win the Nathan's 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, listed with odds 4/5. The San José State University student entered the competitive eating scene in 2005 with a break-out performance in the deep-fried asparagus eating championship, in which he beat high-ranked eater Rich LeFevre by eating 6.3 pounds of asparagus in 11.5 minutes. That same year, during Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest, Chestnut downed 52 hot dogs and buns, placing second behind Takeru Kobayashi.

The Hot Dog Kids