The current sporting world is littered with all-time greats; Tom Brady, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Lewis Hamilton, Joey Chestnut…
Don’t be alarmed if you haven’t heard of the last name - hot-dog eating contests aren’t as big a crowd-puller on this side of the pond - but Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut is a bonafide superstar to our American cousins.
On Monday, during the 2022 edition of Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest - an event so popular in the States that ESPN provides the annual coverage - Chestnut claimed his 15th overall win in the competition, scoffing a mind-blowing 63 hot dogs to clinch the title.
However, this was far from an easy win for the 38-year-old. First off, he arrived at the event in Coney Island, Brooklyn injured and had to stand on the stage in a surgical boot having suffered a prior leg injury. Secondly, halfway through his feast, a protestor, dressed as Darth Vader, made his way on stage to disrupt the annual bonanza.
But Chestnut is a true athlete and a star of this pedigree knows how to overcome this sort of adversity. In Chestnut’s case, it meant choking out the protester, before swiftly returning to his franks and buns and storming to victory. Tom Brady could never…
