Joey Chestnut Defends Bagel-Eating Title in Vegas

• Joey Chestnut narrowly defended his world title at the 4th annual Siegel’s Bagelmania Bagel Eating Competition in Vegas on Saturday
• He beat his fiercest competitor by one‑eighth of a bagel, the closest finish in event history
  

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By mere bites, Joey Chestnut defended his bagel-eating championship title at the fourth annual Siegel’s Bagelmania World Bagel Eating Competition in Las Vegas on Saturday, January 31.

Chestnut — who has held more Major League Eating world records than any living human, from hot dogs to Twinkies to hard‑boiled eggs — beat his fiercest competitor by only one-eighth of a bagel.

Chestnut inhaled 16 7/8 bagels to Patrrick Bertoletti’s 16 3/4, the closest finish in the event’s history. Almost more of a rounding error than a victory, the heartbreakingly tiny gap will surely haunt Bertoletti every time he walks past a bakery.

Bertoletti nearly matched Chestnut last year, too, 14.5 bagels to his winning 15.

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The format remained unchanged: eight minutes, unlimited plain bagels, mandatory cream cheese, and absolutely no dignity.

For his esophageal brinkmanship, Chestnut received $5,000 of the $10,000 in prize-biting money, as well as a championship title belt and at least a 250 mg/dL triglyceride spike.

Rounding out the top five places were the event’s other regulars:

3. Geoffrey Esper — 16 1/8 bagels
4. James Webb — 16 bagels
5. Nick Wehry — 13 7/8 bagels

All eaters bested their bagel consumption from last year.

Esper still holds the world record, 17 3/4 bagels, which he managed in 2023’s inaugural holey war.

The event was livestreamed, for the first time, on TrillerTV, a platform normally devoted to combat sports.