Joey Chestnut, a competitive eating legend, announced his return to the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest after a year of absence due to a contract dispute with competitor Impossible Foods. This iteration marks his 20th event appearance. Chestnut expressed the significance of the competition to him personally and made clarifications regarding his associations with both Nathan's and Impossible Foods. Major League Eating's Richard Shea celebrated Chestnut's return, affirming his status as the greatest competitive eater in history and the size of the upcoming event.
"This event means the world to me," Chestnut, 41, said in a message posted on X. "It's a cherished tradition, a celebration of American culture, and a huge part of my life."
"I think it's the return of the greatest competitive eater of all time to the biggest competitive eating event of all time. So I don't think it gets much bigger in any sport," Shea said.
"There was a little bit of communication that we could have improved on last year," he said. "And I, yeah, I think we figured it out. It took a little bit of finessing."
"Clarifications have been made to my respective contracts," Chestnut said while emphasizing the resolution of past disagreements.
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