A brigade of competitive eaters seeks to challenge longtime champions Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4.
Joey Chestnut wins 15th Mustard Belt at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest
Joey Chestnut didn’t let a protester get in his way as the world champion secured his 15th Mustard Belt at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Claire Hardwick, USA TODAY
A small brigade of competitive eaters expected at the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on the Fourth of July are traveling with passports.
From Japan, South Korea and Brazil, they’ve descended. From Australia, England and Canada they’ve come, with $40,000 in prize money up for grabs during the event televised by ESPN. The women’s competition starts at 11 a.m. ET Tuesday, and the men’s side starts at 12:30 p.m. ET.
“Periodically, we get enormous global interest,” said George Shea, the contest’s emcee. “This year we have a really powerful international contingent.’’
Those international eaters should be braced to run into an unmovable American wall.
Joey Chestnut, 39, will be aiming for his 16th title. He has lost just once since 2007. Miki Sudo, 38, will be seeking her ninth title. The only time she failed to win the women’s competition since 2014 is when she skipped the 2020 contest because she was pregnant.
Japanese eaters once dominated the men’s side, winning 10 titles during the 11-year stretch between 1996 and 2006.
But in 2007, Chestnut wrested away the title from Takeru Kobayashi and since then has lost just once – in 2015 to Matt Stonie.
‘Hot dogs are a weird thing’
Last year, Chestnut arrived for the contest on crutches, with his broken right leg in a cast. His mother had died less than two weeks earlier.
“Looking back, it’s crazy that I even wanted to compete last year,’’ he said.
Chestnut ate 63 hot dogs and buns – more than enough for the victory but 13 fewer than the record-breaking 76 he’d eaten the year before. It was the first time at the contest since 2015 he’d eaten fewer than 70 hot dogs.
CHESTNUT: ‘Worried’ a year after tangling with protester at hot dog eating contest
The broken leg and grief might not have been the only factors during his performance, according to Chestnut, who said the number of hot dogs consumed was down for the entire field.
“Hot dogs are a weird thing,’’ he said. “There can be just a natural variation in hot dogs because there’s a natural casing. I don’t know why, but some years the hot dogs are faster than others, and some years they’re way slower. The casings are harder to bite through, and that’s just the way it is.
“If this year they’re cooked to the point where they’re spitting oil early, you can bite them and they snap, you’ll feel the juices flowing. Oh my God. The juicy hot dog is the best way.’’
On such a day, Chestnut said, he might be able to eat 78.
“Oh man,’’ he said. “It gets my mouth watering just thinking about it.’’
Why a champ would change her technique
While training for the contest last year, Sudo said, she ate 50 hot dogs and buns. That’s 1½ more than her personal record, the highest mark for any woman competitor.
But on July 4, she ate only 40. Even though she won the women’s title, disappointment about falling short of 50 has led to a likely change in technique after a decade of competing.
No more attacking hot dogs two at a time.
“I normally try to eat two hot dogs side-by-side right out of the gate, which is fine at home,’’ Sudo told USA TODAY Sports. But in front of the crowd of thousands at Coney Island on the big day, Sudo said, her muscles tense up.
“I just have difficulty swallowing the hot dogs side-by-side,’’ she said. “It doesn’t go as quickly as it does at home.’’
In past years, Sudo said, she used the side-by-side technique until she ate 30 hot dogs, then ate them one at a time. This year, it will be one at a time from the very start.
“So I think I’ll be a little faster out of the gate and more consistent throughout,’’ she said, clearly focused on eating 50 hot dogs. “I know I can do it. I just need to make it happen on the Fourth on the stage.’’
