Fourth of July Latest: Joey Chestnut wins hot dog contest
The latest on Fourth of July celebrations across the U.S.
2:10 p.m.
Chowdown champ Joey "Jaws" Chestnut broke his own record to gulp to a 14th win in the men´s Nathan´s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on Sunday.
Michelle Lesco took the women´s title.
Chestnut downed 76 franks and buns in 10 minutes. That´s one more than he did in setting the men´s record last year, when the contest unfolded without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lesco downed 30 ¾ dogs in 10 minutes.
Winners Joey Chestnut and Michelle Lesco pose with their championship belts and trophies at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest in Coney Island's Maimonides Park on Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Brooklyn, New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
Reigning women´s champ and record-holder Miki Sudo skipped this year because she´s expecting a baby in a few weeks.
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MORE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY:
- After a year lost to the coronavirus, New York City´s most well-known Fourth of July traditions are back.
- President Joe Biden is r eady to host the largest event yet of his presidency, an Independence Day barbecue and fireworks-watching celebration on the South Lawn on Sunday night.
- Fireworks were unintentionally detonated as they were being set up for an Independence Day show in Ocean City, Maryland, leaving employees of the fireworks company with minor injuries.
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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
2 p.m.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida: The Fourth of July holiday was marked with somber tones in South Florida, where a collapsed building has left at least 24 dead and more than 120 missing under rubble.
"July 4 is ordinarily a time to gather with our loved ones and to celebrate our freedom and our independence, and this year the holiday looks very different," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
"But through this grief," she said, "and all of the other obstacles that have been thrown our way, a clear picture emerges of what it means to be American."
A candle-light vigil was planned for Sunday night in Miami Beach for the victims of the fallen Champlain Towers South condominiums complex in Surfside, Florida.
Neighboring Miami Beach typically hosts one of the region´s most spectacular fireworks displays, but officials canceled its show for the second year out of respect for the families. The show could not go on last year because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Winner Michelle Lesco, center, competes in the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest in Coney Island's Maimonides Park on Sunday, July 4, 2021, in Brooklyn, New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
George Shea, the event's host, livens up the crowd at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest in Coney Island's Maimonides Park on Sunday, July 4, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
Michelle Lesco, center, competes in the 10-minute all-you-can-eat contest at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest in Coney Island's Maimonides Park on Sunday, July 4, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)
