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Joey Chestnut Sets New Record With 13th Hot Dog Eating Contest Win

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

The coronavirus pandemic may have forced major sports leagues to rethink their seasons, but there's one annual competition that went off without a hitch.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Go.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: And we are under way, the 2020 men's division of the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: It's been something else to get this off the ground.

DETROW: That's right. Everybody's favorite - maybe not everybody's favorite - July 4 tradition, watching people stuff their faces with hot dogs as fast as possible. But, of course, as with everything, Nathan's Famous had to adapt the competition because of the pandemic. It was moved away from Coney Island to a private location where contestants stood 6 feet apart, and they were separated by plexiglass dividers. This year, even without the roaring fans...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Four, three, two, one, put down your hot dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Seventy-five.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Some things change. Some remain the same.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Seventy-five hotdogs and buns - a world record.

DETROW: Kentucky native Joey Chestnut managed to down 75 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOEY CHESTNUT: Minute, like, 6 is where I really missed the crowd because they're pumped up. And I hit a wall, and it took me a little bit more work to get through it. And this is a crazy year. And I'm happy I was able to get a record.

DETROW: Chestnut broke his own record of two years ago. He has won the contest 13 of the last 14 years, going back to 2007. And he had no complaints about the meat.

CHESTNUT: The hot dogs were really fast. I mean, they - I think just cooked them, like, 10 minutes ago. So that - I mean, that helps.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLAZO'S "BRISK YELLOW") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.