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[cdyhybrid]

What started as a contest between friends to prove each other's patriotism has become a nationally televised sensation. Every 4th of July, thousands of people descend upon Coney Island to witness the most unique sporting event in the world. You can learn all about it here.

Last year, Joey Chestnut broke his own world record with an incredible 69 hot dogs eaten in just 10 minutes. Can anyone defeat him? The Women's Champion, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, put away a seemingly impossible 45. Is there a new contender on the horizon? All will be answered July 4 on national TV. Check back here after for our video recap.

Where to Watch

The contest will be broadcast by ESPN, a US-based television channel live at 12 pm ET (5 pm GMT), ESPN 2 at 1 pm ET (6 pm GMT).

Prize

This year's prize is $20,000 (£11,676) in cash for both male and female winners.

First Place: $10,000 (£5838)
Second Place: $5,000 (£2919)
Third Place: $2,500 (£1459)
Fourth Place: $1,500 (£875)
Fifth Place: $1,000 (£583)

Last year's prize was $10,000.

Rules

Registration for the contest is administered by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFCE). Participants must be at least 18 years old.

The competitors stand on a platform behind a long table with drinks and Nathan's Famous hot dogs.

The contestant who eats the most hot dogs and buns in ten minutes wins.

A designated scorekeeper for each contestant counts the number of hot dogs eaten.

Hot dogs still in the mouth at the end of the ten minutes count if they are subsequently swallowed.

No one is allowed to start eating until an official gives the signal. Competitors can break the hotdogs into pieces and dip into liquids (usually water) to make them softer.

If someone vomits during the contest, they are disqualified if the vomit touches the plate or table.

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITES
10:00 a.m.
Entertainment begins on Main Stage
11:00 a.m.
George Shea opens the 98th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest
11:15 a.m.
Introduction of Women Contestants
11:30 a.m.
Women’s Contest Begins
12:00 p.m.
ESPN show begins
12:30 p.m.
Introduction of Male Contestants
12:40 p.m.
Men’s Contest Begins
12:55 p.m.
Trophy Presentation

The defending men's champ:

Joseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is an American competitive eater. The 6-foot-tall (1.8 m), 225-pound (102 kg) competitive eater is currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He is a Vallejo, California native who currently resides in San Jose, California.

On July 4, 2007, Chestnut won the 92nd Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, beating six-time defending champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi by consuming 66 hot dogs and buns (HDB) in 12 minutes, which set a new world record. The following year, he successfully defended his title by winning a 5 hot dog eat-off after tying Kobayashi in consuming 59 HDB in 10 minutes. On July 4, 2009, Chestnut outlasted Kobayashi again, by consuming a new world record of 68 HDB and winning his third consecutive title. On July 4, 2010, Chestnut took home his 4th consecutive Mustard Belt eating 54 HDB. The 2010 contest was a runaway victory, as Kobayashi did not compete due to a contract dispute with Major League Eating. On July 4, 2011, he won his fifth-consecutive championship with 62 HDB. 2012 marked his sixth consecutive win, when Chestnut tied his own world record from 2009 by devouring 68 HDB. In 2013, Chestnut captured his seventh straight title, eating a total of 69 HDB, breaking his previous world record.

The defending women's champ:

Sonya Thomas (née Lee Sun-kyung; born July 26, 1967), also known by her nickname The Black Widow, and "The Leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus", is a top-ranked Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating competitive eaters such as Ed "Cookie" Jarvis and Eric Booker. The 98-pound Thomas is the number four competitive eater in the United States. Her nickname "The Black Widow" refers to her ability to regularly defeat men four to five times her size. While the size of her stomach is only slightly larger than normal, her skinny build is perhaps her biggest advantage, allowing her stomach to expand more readily since it is not surrounded by the ring of fat common in other heavy eaters. She holds records in over 25 eating competitions, and in December 2008, she set the world record for fruit-cake eaten in 10 minutes.

You guys are lucky I'm sitting this one out

Sources:
http://www.nathansfamous.com/contest/mainevent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Chestnut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonya_Thomas
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-indepen...ng-contest-2014-records-prizes-videos-1455236

 

[Lkr]

hopefully world cup is at halftime during this shit

 

[Draconian]

Is Kobayashi competing this year or is he still not under contract?

 

[Lkr]

Is Kobayashi competing this year or is he still not under contract?

not gonna lie, it has lost its luster without him

 

[injurai]

not gonna lie, it has lost its luster without him

Matt Stonie yo

 

[Sanjuro]

Can't wait! One of the best sporting events of the year.

 

[cdyhybrid]

Is Kobayashi competing this year or is he still not under contract?

Reuters says he's doing a different competition, which removes the buns from the equation.

 

[Vercetti84]

thought of the josh freeman pic reading the title

 

[cashman]

Better than that kick ball crap that's been all over ESPN

 

[rbanke]

Looked it up and koboyashi still is doing the unofficial 'competition from afar' thing. The article I read also mentioned last years Nathan's competition runner up will be eating with koboyashi. With the stuff about contract disputes and him not officially competing & Joey chestnut being kind of a douche, I've lost interest in the whole thing. I just check each year to see if it's changed back yet, sadly nope

 

[Rentahamster]

One needs a contract to participate in competitive eating?

Serious business. Yo e-sports.

 

[Buckethead]

Kobiyashi >

 

[HORRORSHØW]

the black widow's korean?

hell yeah! 화이팅!

 

[jakncoke]

Matt Stonie yo

Legit. I seen that kid plow through so many lbs of food on his youtube channel, amazing. Is
Molly Schuyler going to be in this year? That woman devours food like no tomorrow .

 

[cdyhybrid]

Legit. I seen that kid plow through so many lbs of food on his youtube channel, amazing. Is
Molly Schuyler going to be in this year? That woman devours food like no tomorrow .

I can't find anything that says she is. Apparently she crushed Joey Chestnut's record for a 72oz steak with side dishes, and then ate another one. Crazy.

Edit:

Lee said 140,000 people have taken the challenge since 1960, and only 10,000 have finished it in under one hour. And no one near as fast as Schuyler. The only thing that has eaten it faster was a lioness, and she just ate the steak.

Schuyler's time for the first meal eclipsed the clocking Chestnut, a seven-time champion of the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating contest, posted in 2008.

Some people anxiously awaited his reaction, to see if he would congratulate Schuyler or talk of reclaiming his record.

Such talk irritates Schulyler, who said she considers Chestnut a friend.

"He's a frickin phenomenal eater," she said. "If he beats me, that's great."

The two are in different eating organizations, meaning you won't see Schuyler at the hot dog contest. In 2013, Schuyler signed with All Pro Eating, which sanctions about 50 events around the world.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/28/living/molly-schuyler-eating-champ/

And from her Wikipedia page:

In early 2014, Molly broke the 72-ounce steak eating world record, having eaten it in 2 minutes and 44 seconds at Sayler's Old Country Kitchen in Portland, Oregon.[10] The prior record at that restaurant was 12 minutes and 53 seconds. The prior world record was six minutes and 38 seconds.

Molly holds a similar 2014 record at Amarillo's Big Texan Steak Ranch, polishing off a 72 ounce steak with side dishes in under five minutes and returning for seconds (14 minutes and 53 seconds for both meals).[11] The previous record, held by competitive eating champion Joey Chestnut, was 8 minutes and 52 seconds for one meal.

Damn.

 

[AlexMogil]

Introduction of Women Contestants
11:30 a.m.
Women’s Contest Begins
12:00 p.m.
ESPN show begins
12:30 p.m.
Introduction of Male Contestants
12:40 p.m.

This is hilarious.

 

[Kvik]

Kudos to all food warriors who ever graced these sorts of competitions. I always wondered how they train for these sort of things.

 

[jakncoke]

I can't find anything that says she is. Apparently she crushed Joey Chestnut's record for a 72oz steak with side dishes, and then ate another one. Crazy.





Damn.

Yeah on her youtube she destroys food
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr7o6DHaB75JwjoC1fIksKA/videos

and here is Stonie channel if any you wanna see the crazy amounts these 2 thrown back.

https://www.youtube.com/user/MegatoadStonie/videos

 

[Acorn]

Why aren't the people that win these competitions overweight?

I mean they surely practice regularly. Throw up after practice?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Reuters says he's doing a different competition, which removes the buns from the equation.

Kobayashi gone keto, hell yeah!

 

[JABEE]

Finally, something I can win at.

 

[illmatic22]

When Chesnut finally vanquished that arrogant Kobayashi, I swear, I could hear bald eagles weeping of joy and freedom. Now it's just watching Joey vs himself.

 

[shira]

not gonna lie, it has lost its luster without him

This guy is such a showman. Oh well

 

[EASTC0AST_GH05T]

Kobiyashi >

this even though the american won the passed few years kobiyashi has been a inspiration to watch. Its always fascinating to see the smallest guy eat the most and always hilarious to see the biggest dude be the first to tap out.

 

[mreddie]

Is Kobayashi competing this year or is he still not under contract?

Think he's moved on and not as salty as he was before.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Think he's moved on and not as salty as he was before.

They were trying to screw him over with a contract. Why wouldn't he be upset?

Shea contends that they offered Kobayashi a contract of over $100,000 that would cover four events in 2010, and that, win or lose at Nathan's, Kobayashi would walk away with a guaranteed $25,000, in essence a flat appearance fee. Any prize monies awarded by the holder of the event would be recouped by MLE.

Kobayashi, wanting more freedom, asked that he only be offered a contract for Nathan's contest, and forgo the other three events they had written into his contract. MLE countered with $40,000 for both the July 2010 and July 2011 contests at Nathan's, and mandated he could not compete in any other competitive eating event for that year in the U.S. and Canada. He also could not endorse anything other than what MLE mandated, the lone language mentioning a Pepto Bismal endorsement for $10,000.

Living off $40,000 with no other means of income was not enough for Kobayashi, and he felt it unfair. He could have been paid a flat six-figure fee, but on principle he declined. MLE's counter, he felt, was unfair, and restrictive. Therefore, the impasse has remained.

http://www.sbnation.com/2012/7/4/3135547/nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-2012-kobayashi

 

[Killing_Joke]

Any lamp of this by any chance?

 

[redmetal86]

Chestnut proposed and she accepted!

 

[Konka]

Free Kobi.

 

[Subitai]

He'll break 75! I believe!

Chestnut proposed and she accepted!

That was unexpectedly brilliant!

 

[MarauderShields]

No Kobayashi no watch

 

[Subitai]

No Kobayashi no watch

I used to care about that, but he isn't really a threat any more.

 

[Superblatt]

Any stream of this anywhere?

 

[kingkitty]

there's no hotdog eating contest on my ESPNs, just some tennis thing and a commie soccer game.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

there's no hotdog eating contest on my ESPNs, just some tennis thing and a commie soccer game.

It is on ESPN News.

 

[Subitai]

Any stream of this anywhere?

Yeah, it is on ESPN news because of Wimbledon and the World Cup being televised on 1 & 2, so probably not. There is too much going on right now to keep up with.

 

[GalacticaN7]

Don't like chestnut, and there is no Kobi....so can't bring myself to watch another Chestnut win with no one coming close.

 

[Subitai]

Don't like chestnut, and there is no Kobi....so can't bring myself to watch another Chestnut win with no one coming close.

Then watch for the rise of Stoney.

 

[Screaming_Gremlin]

That ESPN Sports Science segment on what happens to the human stomach when you eat 69 hotdogs was uh... disgusting.

 

[Sean]

I'm recording it but without Kobayashi being a close competitor and the US vs Japan thing it's hasn't been as fun these last few years.

Chestnut eats like 20+ more hotdogs than these other dudes, it's not even close. The only reason to watch is to see if he can beat his record.

 

[slit]

Just remind all the contestants what hot dogs are made of afterwards and you'll have an instant puke party.

 

[Sanjuro]

Let's do this!

 

[mechashiva]

No Kobayashi no watch

Dude beat him three times. Why worship the loser?

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

That one guy looked really fat for 6'0" 195lbs lol.

 

[mechashiva]

Dud Light's intro was incredible.

 

[Sanjuro]

GO MEGATOAD!

 

[rCIZZLE]

LETS GO EATER X

 

[jakncoke]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfjX47zDDvw

Stoni did 66 in his last training session. Gonna be very close finish between him and Chestnut, much closer than last year.

 

[Cagey]

This announcer has me hype as fuck, damn.

 

[rCIZZLE]

This announcer has me hype as fuck, damn.

He was even rapping when Eric Booker came out. Guy does it all.