Defending champion Miki Sudo wins women’s division of Nathan’s annual hot dog eating contest

NEW YORK (AP) — Florida dental hygiene student Miki Sudo has won her 10th title in the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July competition. Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Sudo ate 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes on Thursday in New York City — setting a new world record for women.

“I am so happy that I can say that this will be mine for another year,” Sudo said after winning her 10th pink belt.

The 38-year-old defending champion won last year after eating 39 and a half hot dogs. She beat 13 competitors from around the world, including her 28-year-old rival Mayoi Ebihara of Japan. Ebihara came in second after eating 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She was also runner-up in 2023.

With the event’s biggest star — Joey “Juice” Chestnut — out of contention this year, Sudo’s result sets the stage for a possible scenario where the women’s champion outshines the men’s winner. Jeffrey Esper, who finished second last year, also had a personal best of 51, but he only ate 49 last year.

Chestnut, who has won 16 of the past 17 contests, will not attend the competition due to Tiff careInstead, he’ll compete against soldiers at a U.S. Army base in El Paso later in the day. That leaves the traditional Brooklyn event wide open for a new winner in the men’s division, where foodies from around the world compete on Independence Day to see how many hot dogs they can eat in 10 minutes.

Thousands of fans flock each year to the event held outside Nathan’s original location on Brooklyn’s Coney Island, a seaside destination with theme parks and a summer carnival culture. ESPN broadcasts the competition live. The men’s competition is scheduled to begin at approximately 12:20 p.m.

Competitors come from more than a dozen countries and five continents, with prospects from Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic vying for the prestigious title and $10,000 in prize money.

“There will be a new champion,” Australian James Webb, who holds the world record for eating 70 doughnuts in eight minutes, said at a preliminary event in New York on Wednesday.

last year chestnutAmerican John Kerry, from Indiana, managed to win the title after he was able to digest 62 dogs and meat in 10 minutes. His record in 2021 was 76 dogs.

“I will try to challenge myself,” Sudo said Wednesday. Her competitor, Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, said through a translator that she would eat until she passed out, with the goal of eating 50 hot dogs.

Chestnuts were first uninvited From the event through a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, a company specializing in plant-based meat alternatives.

Major League Eating, which organizes Nathan’s Famous, has since announced it has reversed the ban, but Chestnut decided to spend the holiday with the troops anyway.

Chestnut said he would not return to the Coney Island competition without an apology.

The event is scheduled to start at Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso at 5 p.m. EST and will use traditional hot dogs, with Chestnut trying to eat more than four soldiers in five minutes.

While he won’t be eating their plant-based products, Impossible Foods is promoting the show’s YouTube livestream by flying banners over Los Angeles and Miami. A company spokesperson said it will also donate to an organization that supports military families based on the number of hot dogs eaten at the event.