Words: Sam Hockley-Smith

Photography: Brian Kelley

Every Independence Day, competitive eaters from all over the globe descend on Coney Island for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, an event that is exactly what it sounds like. Participants jam hot dogs (and accompanying buns) down their throats, aided only by water that creates a gummy paste of meat and bread. This year, Joey Chestnut, a guy who knows his way around eating a whole lot of hot dogs in a single sitting, took back the championship from last year's winner Matt Stonie. Chestnut ate 70 hot dogs in ten minutes. Seventy.