Ddental hygiene student Miki Sudo of Florida won her tenth women’s title in the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.
On Thursday, Sudo consumed 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes and set a new world record for women.
The 38-year-old defending champion won last year after eating 39 1/2 hot dogs, while her personal best is 48 1/2, the women’s world record.
She defeated 14 competitors from around the world, including 28-year-old rival Mayoi Ebihara of Japan. Ebihara came in second place after eating 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She was also runner-up in 2023.
Competitors came from more than a dozen states and five continents, with prospects from Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic vying for the coveted title in the men’s and women’s divisions and a cash prize of US$ 10,000.
Thousands of fans gather every year for the event held outside the original Nathan’s location in Brooklyn’s Coney Island, a seaside destination with amusement parks and a summer carnival culture. ESPN broadcasts the contest live, beginning with the women’s division at 11 a.m. ET, while the men’s division will begin at approximately 12:20 p.m.
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who had won 16 of the previous 17 competitions, did not attend the competition during a sponsorship dispute. Instead, he will compete against soldiers at a U.S. Army base in El Paso later in the day.
“There will be a new champion,” Australian James Webb, who holds the world record for eating 70 donuts in eight minutes, said at a pre-launch event in New York on Wednesday.
Last year brunette, from Indiana, paved the way for the title by slaughtering 62 dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The record, which he set in 2021, is 76.
Before the event, ESPN said it would focus on two Americans with dedicated cameras: Massachusetts high school teacher Geoffrey Esper in the men’s division and Sudo in the women’s division.
Esper came in second last year with 49 dogs and buns, although his personal best is 51.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
