Hot Dog Eating Champion Gets Engaged Before Winning Eighth Contest
Joey Chestnut, a man who is very good at eating hot dogs very quickly, won his eighth Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest today. Just before he downed 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes, he proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Neslie Ricasa, who said yes. Their engagement story is now: "We got engaged at a Coney Island hot dog-eating contest." Theirs is the truest of loves.
Chestnut felt short of the 69 hot dogs he ate in last year's contest, but it was enough to eke out another victory. From USA Today:
The win was one of the closer ones for Chestnut, who battled Matt Stonie closely throughout the competition. Chestnut jumped out to an early lead, with Stonie and Tim Janus closely trailing behind for the first few minutes.
Stonie took the lead with about six minutes remaining and the two battled and traded the lead for the next five minutes. With 1:13 left, the two were tied at 53 hot dogs apiece. But Chestnut retook the lead, going up 57-54 with 47 seconds to go and didn't relinquish it for the rest of the contest. Stonie finished with 56 hot dogs.
Joey Chestnut proposes to girlfriend before hot dog eating contest pic.twitter.com/EBlSaZHwAE
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) July 4, 2014
[Image via AP]