Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest: Love at first bite for the competitive eating couple as they both prepare for the Fourth of July competition

NEW YORK CITY — They are a power couple in the competitive eating circuit and are also preparing in real life to participate in Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on the 4th of July.

The pair, Miki Sudo and Nick Wehry, will compete for the coveted Mustard Belt on Thursday at Coney Island.

They actually met in the world of competitive eating.

“We like to say that we didn’t choose the eating competition, the eating competition chose us,” Sudo said.

Eleven years later, she still takes part in competitions because she not only loves good food, but also enjoys traveling, meeting new people and entertaining others.

Her husband Wehry said: “I was a competitive bodybuilder for about ten years and when I stopped, I needed another outlet. My appetite was a running joke and someone said, ‘You can raise money for charity, get free food and win money.’ I’m in, I’m really in!”

“I met the love of my life and we have a beautiful son together,” Sudo said of her adorable three-year-old son, Max.

The couple met when she introduced herself and asked him to take a photo before an eating contest at the gym where they were training. A year later, a friend suggested they talk, but Wehry thought it would never happen.

“I thought she wouldn’t pay any attention to me! But luckily she did, and now it continues into the present,” he said.

They are both winners of many different eating competitions. She has won the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest nine times among female contestants. He is the fourth best eater in the world.

He hasn’t taken home the title at Nathan’s yet, but with Joey Chestnut not competing there this year, Wehry is hoping he has a chance. Plus, he’s beaten Chestnut before in wing and pistachio competitions.

The couple has developed best practices for a hot dog contest and gives each other tips.

“If my body cooperates on the day. I’ve been training since January,” he said. “It will be a fight to the death.”

You can watch them at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN 2.

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