“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” Bertoletti laughed as he spoke to ESPN about his first win, “but today I’m getting married. … Always second or third, this is big.”
Bertoletti seemed surprised at his accomplishment but knew the significance of Chestnut’s absence.
“There was an urgency. With Joey not here, I knew I had a shot. I was able to unlock something that I don’t know where it came from, but I’m not complaining.”
Sudo, a 38-year-old mom from Tampa who is studying to be a dental hygienist, downed 51 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, bettering the record 48.5 she consumed in 2020. Mayoi Ebihara was second with 37 and Michelle Lesco was third.
“Even 10 years into this, I still have more to go,” Sudo told ESPN. “The women’s record can be improved from here on out and there are exciting things to come.”
As for her next meal, she said, “Something cold and refreshing. Maybe some fruit.”
For the first time in 23 years, the contest was missing both Chestnut, the man synonymous with the contest, and his rival, Takeru Kobayashi. Chestnut, the 16-time Nathan’s champion, and was barred from the competition last month after signing an endorsement deal with plant-based Impossible Foods. Kobayashi has been banned from the event since 2010 because of a contractual dispute with Major League Eating, the governing body for Nathan’s and a number of other competitive eating contests.
Chestnut, who had not lost at Coney Island since 2015 (to Matthew Stonie) holds the record, downing 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes in 2021. But this year, he was more than 2,000 miles from Coney Island, competing later in the day against Fort Bliss soldiers in El Paso, Texas, in a contest expected to last only five minutes, half the amount of time given to competitors in the Nathan’s event.
His absence was first reported last month, when he announced that he had signed with a “plant-based firm” while negotiating a contract with Nathan’s. The Impossible deal does not prohibit him from entering eating competitions, including Nathan’s, but an agreement binding competitors in MLE events decrees otherwise. George Shea, chair and co-founder of MLE, told The Post that competitors may “not represent a rival hot dog brand.”
Nathan’s had been preparing to offer Chestnut an annual $300,000 appearance fee over four years, a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Post.
Chestnut and Kobayashi will square off in a live Netflix special on Labor Day in an effort to settle a rivalry that dates to 2007. That year, Chestnut unseated Kobayashi, who had won Nathan’s six years in a row; Chestnut went on to win 15 of the next 16 competitions.
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