Joey Chestnut may not have competed in the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island ... but the competition was still a memorable one.
First up, Miki Sudo made history with her recent win at the annual contest ... as she set a new world record in the women's division. The dental hygiene student from Florida nabbed her 10th women's title Thursday, where she consumed 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes ... 11 and 1/2 more than last year's competition.
Miki beat her own personal best, as she previously ate 48 and 1/2 hot dogs in a prior competition. Remember, 48 and 1/2 hot dogs was the women's world record heading into Thursday's competition.
While Miki was the reigning champion, she wasn't necessarily a shoo-in to win the Fourth of July tradition. Among the other 14 competitors was her rival, Mayoi Ebihara of Japan.
Mayoi -- who was also the runner-up in 2023 -- came in 2nd place after consuming 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes time.
All eyes then turned to the men's competition ... where, with Joey's exit in June, anyone could emerge victorious. Patrick Bertoletti of Illinois emerged the victor on the 4th ... as he ate 58 hot dogs, breaking his personal record of 55 hot dogs.
The race was a tight one, as Patrick was neck and neck with Australian James Webb and last year's runner-up Geoff Esper. Ultimately, Patrick nabbed the win -- and the $10K cash prize.
He added moments after winning ... "I wasn’t going to stop eating until the job was done."
Geoff ended up in 2nd place again ... as he ate 53 hot dogs in total.
For those missing Joey at the competition, the 16-time champ will be competing at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas later on the 4th ... after being booted from Nathan's contest over an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods.
Stay tuned!!!