Gut Busting Photos of an American Treasure, Made Famous In New York

Will Anyone Watch this Year's Event?

This week, much of the sports world has focused on Caitlin Clark's omission from the Team USA women's basketball squad at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.  While you can make a justified argument for or against her placement on the team, many have said that the games are less watchable if she's not there; others have flat-out said they WON'T watch if she's not representing the red, white, and blue.

Meanwhile, a similar situation is also brewing this week, when we learned that the GREATEST competitive eater, Joey Chestnut, was banned from the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Banned at this Year's Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York

Chestnut was banned from the event before the 2024 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest because of his affiliation with Impossible Foods, a plant-based food company.

Impossible Foods makes vegan hot dogs, among other products. It is considered a direct competitor for Nathan's and sponsors the annual hot dog eating contest.

The Throat Goat

Chestnut has accomplished a great deal in the competitive eating world, but no event has brought him more notoriety than the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, held every year on July 4th in New York.

He has won it 16 times and holds the single-event record with 76 hot dogs consumed back in 2021. How can we forget the way he choked out a protester in 2022 on his way to eating 66 meat missiles?

Say what you will about Joey Chestnut; the man is a national treasure. It may be hard for some to watch a man destroy 50, 60, or 70 hot dogs in just a few minutes without feeling a bit queasy, but you must admire this man's skill, and for many like myself, it will be even harder to watch this year's event without the Throat Goat!

Joey Chestnut downing "glizzies" on the Fourth of July is as American as the holiday itself. For those like me who are also oddly intrigued by his ability to swallow ginormous amounts of any food or competitive eater on the planet, it's a kick to the gut that he won't be on Coney Island in New York.