Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, July 4 (UPI) -- Joey "Jaws" Chestnut set two records as he won his seventh consecutive Nathan's Famous hot-dog eating contest Thursday at New York's Coney Island. One record was for the number of consecutive wins, Nathan's said. Chestnut downed 69 dogs in 10 minutes, surpassing the record of 68 he set last year. Advertisement On the women's side, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas won with a mere 36 and 3/4 hot dogs. An enthusiastic crowd of about 40,000 watched the event, the New York Daily News reported. George Shea, chairman of Major League Eating, the governing body of competitive eating events, reacted enthusiastically to Chestnut's victory. "It is an art, it is a poem, it is a prayer that he's executing right now!" Shea yelled. Matt "Megatoad" Stonie came in second with only 51 hot dogs. Nathan's was founded on the boardwalk in Coney Island in 1916 by Nathan and Ida Handwerker. It has grown into Nathan's Famous Inc., a restaurant chain and food products company. The hot dog contest has been held on Coney Island since the 1970s.
