EAT YOUR FACEOFF: Joey Chestnut Enters Las Vegas Bagel-Eating Championship

When it comes to the world’s greatest bagels, no one thinks of Las Vegas. When it comes to the world’s greatest bagel eaters, that’s a different story.

On Saturday, January 13, for the second straight year, the World Bagel Eating Championship will take place at Siegel’s Bagelmania in Sin City. The winner will walk away with $10K in prize money. And probably, indigestion.

Last year, competitive eater Geoff Esper won this faceoff of fattening by consuming 17.75 bagels in eight minutes. And that included cream cheese. Trailing the Massachusetts native were Nick Wehry and Miki Sudo, who scarfed down 14.75 and 12.75 bagels, respectively, in the same amount of time.

 (Stomach) Upset Factor: Joey Chestnut

A repeat performance for Esper will be difficult, because this year’s bagelympiad will be graced by Joey Chestnut. Ranked first in the world at competitive eating, Chestnut, 40, began his long and illustrious career in not chewing his food properly with a shocking win in the 2007 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Devouring 66 franks in 12 minutes, Chestnut set a new world record and trounced six-time defending champion  Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi in the process. In 2021, Chestnut ate 76 hot dogs, setting a world record that still stands.

Joining Chestnut and Esper in 2024 will be Wehry and Sudo, as well as James Webb from Australia, Patrick Bertoletti from Chicago, and Las Vegas’ own Derek Hendrickson.

Las Vegas is where all great competitors come to showcase their talents and become world champions,” Sam Barclay of Major League Eating, the contest’s organizer, said in a news release. “This year, we anticipate a new world record, as our top eaters fight for the prestigious title of Bagel-Eating Champion.”

This year’s World Bagel Eating Championship will take place at Siegel’s Bagelmania, 252 Convention Center Drive, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 13. Admission to watch is free, though contest entrants must register.