NEW YORK CITY — Another year, another Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Championship for Miki Sudo.
Sudo lives in Port Richey and is the top-ranked female competitor in the Major League Eating world rankings. She downed 39.5 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes to claim her record-breaking ninth consecutive victory.
"I’m here to put on a good show, and I think that it was. The women’s contest was really exciting from a spectator's point of view. Watching it back, it gave me goosebumps," Sudo said via video chat Wednesday morning. "I think it’s just going push us to put up higher numbers for next year. It’s really just a great feeling to be back, and I’m already looking forward to next year, to be honest."
Sudo skipped the competition in 2021 because she was pregnant with her son, Max.
The women's competition went off Tuesday morning without a hitch. Then lightning and thunderstorms rolled into the New York City area, pushing the men's contest back from noon to 2 p.m.
"It didn’t start to sprinkle. It almost Florida-style started to torrential downpour out of nowhere," said Sudo's husband and fellow competitive eater, Nick Wehry. "If it was just rain, Joey [Chestnut] and I were both there, we looked at each other and we’re like, 'We’ll go right now.' Just walk out there, eat in the rain. It doesn’t matter."
Wehry, who entered the contest as the third-ranked male eater in the world, managed a career-best 45 hot dogs and buns, but it wasn't enough to threaten Chestnut, a 16-time Nathan's champion, who consumed 62.
"Ultimately frustrated with how things turned out. I guess it’s a new [personal record] on that stage," Wehry said about his fourth-place finish. "Everybody performed well, and the crowd seemed psyched. I’m glad everything went off as well as it could have given the circumstances."
Competitive eating has received criticism for its gluttonous nature and apparent food wastefulness. But Nathan's regularly donates 100,000 hot dogs to the Food Bank of New York City, and Major League Eating supports non-profit groups like Feeding America.
"Knowing we can use our weird, bizarre talent for good… that feels really cool," Wehry added. "Especially for things that are still as rampant as hunger and food insecurity. If we can even make a dent in that, then that’s a pretty cool gig to have."
There's no rest for the hungry. Whrey said they're eyeing a barbecue rib-eating competition in Minnesota on July 29.
