Check Out People Gorging Themselves On Hot Dogs In America's Name

New York's Coney Island hosted Nathan's annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest yesterday, and while the results were predictable, the scene was still crazy.

Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas won the female competitive eating round (again), downing 45 hot dogs this year in honor of her upcoming 45th birthday. Next year, she promised, she'll eat 46. Competitors better train to hit 48, just in case she decides to surprise us.

As for the men's competition, current record-holder Joey Chestnut matched his record of 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes, not breaking his record, but not letting the crowd down, either. Last year, his main competitior Takeru Kobayashi tied with him, but since Kobayashi was banned from the event this year, the Japanese eater was down at the first annual Crif Dog Classic, where he reportedly ate 58.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

Check out The Daily Meal's photos of the scene in our slideshow, although the faint-of-heart should probably click through on an empty stomach.

Jessica Chou is an associate editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @jesschou.