BROOKLYN, NY — Death, taxes, and Miki Sudo winning the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Brooklyn, NY.
Sudo has won ten consecutive Nathan's titles in which she's competed— the most over on the men's or women's side. She sat out the 2021 competition while she was pregnant with her son, Max.
"The weather complied. My body cooperated. And I have so much love and support behind me," Sudo said Friday via video chat. "I think I really harnessed that. It’s just a combination of things that made it possible. I feel great."
Sudo, who lives in Port Richey, set a world record by eating 51 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. Mayoi Ebhiara finished a distant second with 37.
"A lot of records, barriers and milestones were broken and reached. Just exciting things are on the horizon. For me personally, even ten years in this game," Miki added. "I still have more to show, more to give, and a lot to look forward to."
Sudo's balancing her lucrative eating career with being a mom and attending dental hygiene school at Hillsborough County Community College. She says it helps to have someone like her husband, fellow competitive eater Nick Wehry, in her corner.
"I couldn’t balance it all if it weren’t for this guy," she said as she sat next to Nick. "That said, I have amazing instructors at HCC. I’ve got amazing ladies pushing me at the table. At every level there are so many people who are integral to the successes that I’ve enjoyed."
The men's competition was wide open following the departure of 16-time winner Joey Chestnut, who signed with an endorsement deal with a competitor of Nathan's Famous. Wehry started quickly, but he admitted that he made some mental mistakes in the middle of the ten minutes. Patrick Bertoletti won the men's title by devouring 58 hot dogs and buns. Wehry finished in a very respectable fourth place by downing a personal best of 51.75.
"Maybe the 11th person ever to hit the 50 mark," Nick said Friday. "Miki and I and James [Webb] were that people that joined that club yesterday. Mentally, meh, but performance-wise it was a good day."
One criticisms of competitive eating contests is that they're simply a waste of food. However, Nathan's Famous has an annual tradition of donating $100,000 worth of hot dogs to local food banks, and they've donated more than two million dogs in conjunction with their competition.
"As crazy as what we do is, I’d like to think we bring a lot of good and a lot of fun for people on the 4th of July," Wehry said with smile.
" As parents ourselves, we just appreciate free family fun too," Sudo laughed. "So if we want to provide that for other families on a budget, you know, I’m all for it."
