Defending champion Miki Sudo wins the women’s division of Nathan’s annual hot dog eating contest

CEDAR ATTANASIO, Associated Press

6 mins ago

People wait for Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest to begin on Thursday, July 4, 2024, at Coney Island in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

NEW YORK (AP) — Dental hygiene student Miki Sudo of Florida won her 10th title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4.

Sudo ate 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes in New York City on Thursday – setting a new world record for women.

The 38-year-old defending champion from last year won after eating 39 1/2 hot dogs. She defeated 13 competitors from around the world, including her 28-year-old rival Mayoi Ebihara of Japan. Ebihara finished second after eating 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She was also the runner-up in 2023.

Since the event’s biggest star – Joey “Jaws” Chestnut – is not competing this year, Sudo’s result opens up the possibility that the women’s winner will eat more than the men’s winner. Geoffrey Esper, who finished second last year, also has a personal best of 51, but only ate 49 last year.

Chestnut, who won 16 of the previous 17 contests, is not competing because of a sponsorship dispute. Instead, he will compete against soldiers at a U.S. military base in El Paso later in the day, leaving the traditional Brooklyn event wide open for a new winner in the men’s division, where eaters from around the world compete on American Independence Day to see how many hot dogs they can eat in 10 minutes.

Thousands of fans flock each year to the event, which takes place outside the original Nathan’s location in Brooklyn’s Coney Island, a beach town with amusement parks and a carnivalesque summer culture. ESPN will broadcast the competition live. The men’s competition begins at approximately 12:20 p.m.

Participants come from over a dozen countries and five continents. Talents from Brazil, Japan, Great Britain, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic compete for the coveted title and prize money of $10,000.

“There will be a new champion,” Australian James Webb, who holds the world record for eating 70 doughnuts in eight minutes, said at a preview event in New York on Wednesday.

Last year, Indiana’s Chestnut won the title by eating 62 sausages and buns in 10 minutes. The record he set in 2021 is 76.

“I’m going to try hard,” Sudo said on Wednesday. Her rival Mayoi Ebihara from Japan said through an interpreter that she would eat until she passed out. Her goal was to eat 50 hot dogs.

Chestnut was initially disinvited from the event because he had signed a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a company that specializes in plant-based meat substitutes.

Major League Eating, the organizer of the Nathan’s Famous competition, has since announced that it has lifted the ban, but Chestnut decided to spend the holiday with the troops anyway.

Chestnut said he would not return to the Coney Island competition without an apology.

The event at Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, will feature traditional hot dogs, and Chestnut will attempt to eat more hot dogs in five minutes than four soldiers.

Although he won’t eat the vegan products, Impossible Foods is promoting Chestnut’s YouTube livestream of the expo by flying planes with banners over Los Angeles and Miami. The company will also donate to an organization that supports military families based on the number of hot dogs eaten at the event, a spokesperson said.