Sports

With Joey Chestnut out, Patrick Bertoletti wins Nathan's hot dog eating contest

Published

3 days ago

July 4, 2024

With Joey Chestnut out, Patrick Bertoletti wins Nathan's hot dog eating contest

With the controversial absence of its king, Joey Chestnut, the competitive eating world turned its eyes to Coney Island, where an open field of competitors aimed to usurp the crown at Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.

After 10 minutes of scarfing hot dogs, a new men’s champion emerged — Patrick Bertoletti. With mouth agape and stomach expanded, Bertoletti devoured 58 hot dogs to capture the Yellow Mustard Belt, outlasting 13 competitors.

For the first time in eight years, a new men’s champion was crowned.

Bertoletti, a Chicago native, returned to the event as the No. 9 ranked eater in the world. In his sixth appearance, he surpassed his personal best total of 55.

“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride,” Bertoletti said on ESPN2 after the competition. “Today, I’m getting married.”

The silver went to Geoffrey Esper, the favorite going into the event, who ate 53 hot dogs, while James Webb of Australia secured third place with 52 dogs consumed.

“I just can’t believe it. I always finished second or third, and this is big,” Bertoletti said. “With Joey not here, I knew I had a shot. I unlocked something inside me that I don’t know where it came from, but I’m not complaining.”

On the women’s side, the new potential face of competitive eating emerged as Miki Sudo, the reigning queen of the event, set a new women’s world record by downing 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She clinched her 10th Pink Belt in historic fashion, beating her previous world record of 48.5 hot dogs and buns and surpassing the 50-dog threshold.

“I finally did it,” Sudo said on ESPN2 after the competition. “We finally beat 50 hot dogs. So much of this is thanks to Mayoi Ebihara, who pushed me so much. Honestly, I prepared even more because I knew she was going to bring it.”

In second place, gobbling 37 hot dogs, was Tokyo-based competitive eater and social media star Mayoi “Ebimayo” Ebihara. In a neck-and-neck race to victory, Ebihara gave Sudo a run for her money for the second consecutive year, keeping pace with the champion for nearly the entire stretch of the competition.

Michelle “Cardboard Shell” Lesco, who claimed victory in the 2021 competition during Sudo’s absence, finished third, gobbling 23.5 hotdogs and buns, falling short of her personal best of 32 hotdogs and buns.

A mainstay in competitive eating, Sudo proved why she is the No.1 ranked competitive female eater and No. 3 overall. She has dominated the event every year since 2014, except for 2021, when she missed time due to pregnancy with her son Max.

“Ten years into this, I still have more to show,” Sudo said. “The women’s records are just going to improve.”

This year’s contest may have an asterisk attached as the man synonymous with the event, Chestnut, was banned due to a contractual agreement to endorse a rival brand of wiener, Impossible Foods, which produces vegan hot dogs.

Nathan’s and Shea refuted claims of a ban, telling CBS News, “He is never banned. He has never been banned. We want him there. We wanted him there. We conceded on all these elements. It was an exclusivity issue.”

Either way, “Jaws’” star power was notably absent.

For the last 17 years, Chestnut has been the Goliath of the contest, winning 16 of the previous 17 Nathan’s hot dog eating contests. MLE, the governing body for numerous competitive eating contests, has crowned him “the greatest eater in history.”

On average, Chestnut has eaten 66.47 wieners per year. , a mark which Bertoletti fell short of, a benchmark Chestnut may have expectedly surpassed as he has done many times before.

Chestnut is participating in a Fourth of July hot dog eating contest featuring Impossible Foods products at Fort Bliss in Texas at 2 p.m. PST. He is also set to face his biggest rival, former champion Takeru Kobayashi, in a Netflix special airing on Labor Day.

Sports

John Cena announces retirement from WWE

Published

5 hours ago

July 7, 2024

Press Room

Sixteen-time world champion wrestler John Cena announced his retirement Saturday at WWE’s Money in the Bank at ScotiaBank Arena in Toronto, which Cena said was the “perfect” place to make the announcement.

In recent years, Cena has shown off a towel that said “Never give up.”

This time, it said, “The last time is now,” a reference to his entrance song, “The Time Is Now.”

John Cena celebrates his win during Wrestlemania in New Orleans April 6, 2014. (Jonathan Bachman/AP Images for WWE, File)

Cena also wore a shirt that said “The Last Time Is Now Tour” and “John Cena Farewell.”

Cena said he would compete at next year’s Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, which will be his final events. Chants of “Thank you Cena” roared through the crowd afterward.

“Thank you for letting me play in the house you built for so many years,” Cena told the crowd.

Now a Hollywood superstar, Cena made his WWE debut in 2002 and quickly became a fan favorite. His first dominant shtick was as a trash-talking rapper when he was nicknamed the “Doctor of Thuganomics.”

Two of his most famous matches were at back-to-back WrestleMania events in 2011 and 2012, both of which came against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Cena lost the first but won the second.

John Cena returns to WWE for the WWE Universal Championship during Money in the Bank at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, July 18, 2021. (Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports)

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Cena has been a part-timer the last five years. His most recent return, before Saturday, came on night two of WrestleMania XL when Cody Rhodes dethroned Roman Reigns as the undisputed WWE champion.

He won his first of 16 world championships at WrestleMania XXI in 2005 at the age of 28.

Outside the ring and film, he is known for having granted the most wishes for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, granting close to 700.

Because of his in-ring success and popularity that was unmatched throughout the 2010s, he’s widely regarded as one of the greatest WWE performers of all time and is often placed on hypothetical WWE “Mount Rushmore” lists.

John Cena enters the ring at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 at Barclays Center of Brooklyn on August 23, 2015 in New York City.

John Cena enters the ring at the WWE SummerSlam 2015 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn Aug. 23, 2015. (JP Yim/Getty Images)

Cena has headlined WrestleMania five times, and since next year’s in Las Vegas will be his farewell, it’s fair to assume he will headline a sixth.

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Sports

Angel City's struggles follow them into Olympic break with loss to Gotham FC

Published

6 hours ago

July 7, 2024

Press Room

Angel City's struggles follow them into Olympic break with loss to Gotham FC

First-half goals from Rose Lavelle and Delanie Sheehan lifted NJ/NY Gotham FC to a 2-1 win over Angel City in front of an announced crowd of 16,542 at BMO Stadium on Saturday.

Claire Emslie scored Angel City’s only goal on a penalty kick in the 69th minute. It was the team’s first goal in three games and 254 minutes.

The crowd was the smallest of the season and the second-smallest in Angel City history. The team came into the weekend leading the league in average home attendance at 19,865.

With the loss, the team’s third straight, Angel City (4-9-3) skidded into the NWSL’s seven-week Olympic break having won only once in nine games dating to early May, falling to 11th in the league standings, three points out of the eighth and final playoff berth.

Lavelle, who was dangerous for most of the 60 minutes she played, tested Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic twice — once with each foot — in the third minute before scoring for Gotham (9-3-4) 13 minutes later.

The play started with a long pass ricocheting off Angel City’s Rocky Rodríguez. Sheehan controlled the loose ball and sent it back the other way, starting a five-pass sequence that ended with Crystal Dunn feeding Lavelle in the middle box. From there she had an easy finish for her fifth goal of the season.

Sheehan, a Hermann Trophy semifinalist at UCLA, doubled the lead just before halftime, scoring into an empty goal after Ella Stevens drew Haracic to the top of the six-yard box, then sent a low, left-footed pass to a wide-open Sheehan for her first of the season.

That was one of seven shots on target for Gotham in a first half the reigning NWSL champions dominated.

Angel City, which didn’t put its first shot on goal until the opening seconds of the second half, played much better after the intermission with Emslie giving the team late life with her team-leading sixth goal of the season after Gisele Thompson was taken down in the box by Gotham’s Mandy Freeman.

Thompson left the game after drawing the foul.

Haracic finished with seven saves, matching her season high.

Sports

NBA player ejected from Olympics tuneup after placing hands around fellow pro's neck

Published

12 hours ago

July 6, 2024

Press Room

NBA player ejected from Olympics tuneup after placing hands around fellow pro's neck

There’s still some time until the start of the Olympics, but tensions are already running high.

France and Germany faced each other at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, for an international friendly that apparently became anything but.

With just over two minutes left in the second quarter and the French leading the Germans, 41-23, Dennis Schröder, who also plays for the Brooklyn Nets, drove toward the basket and was fouled by Evan Fournier, a free agent who played for the Knicks and Pistons last season.

Evan Fournier of France in action during an International friendly match against Turkey July 3, 2024, in Rouen, France. (Christian Liewig/Corbis/Getty Images)

Schröder took exception to the foul and quickly approached Fournier with some words. Fournier, though, almost immediately fought back by placing his hands around Schröder’s throat.

The two were separated quickly, and Fournier was ejected for his actions.

Evan Fournier of the French National Basketball Team celebrates with fans after a win in an international friendly match against Turkey July 3, 2024, at Kindarena in Rouen, France. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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Both teams are in Group B for the Olympics along with Japan and the soon-to-be-named winner of an Olympic qualifying tournament. They will face each other Aug. 2.

Germany also has Franz and Moritz Wagner of the Orlando Magic and the LA Clippers’ Daniel Theis. Franz just signed a $229 million deal with the Magic. France is loaded with reigning Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama and Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

France’s Evan Fournier (10) shoots over U.S. forward Kevin Durant (7) during a preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics July 25, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Olympic basketball begins July 27, and the men’s gold medal game is scheduled for Aug. 10.

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