Preview: 2009 Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest (July 4 - Coney Island, New York)

Coney Island, New York -- A Fourth of July tradition, 20 of the greatest competitive eaters in the world--along with tens of thousands of spectators--will gather at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, New York, for the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. The 2008 competition, promoted as a showdown between Joey Chestnut of the United States and Takeru Kobayashi of Japan, was won by Chestnut, who successfully defended his championship. Chestnut won the prized Mustard Belt in a five-dog tiebreaker with six-time champion Kobayashi. Kobayashi, a legend in the sport of competitive eating, suffered a devastating reversal that cost him the championship.

Chestnut and Kobayashi are expected to return in 2009 for the 93rd annual competition, which is sanctioned by Major League Eating. A series of qualifying events, held in the United States and worldwide, will determine the remaining competitors. Qualifiers so far include names familiar to fans of competitive eating: Jason "Crazy Legs" Conti, Richard LeFevre, Juliet Lee, Tim "Eater X" Janus, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, Bob Shoudt and Erik "The Red" Denmark.

The gustatory athletes must consume--and keep down--as many hot dogs and buns (HDB, in competitive jargon) as possible in the 10-minute regulation time. In 2008 the duration of the contest was shortened from 12 minutes to 10 minutes, after officials discovered paperwork indicating that the competition, which was first held in 1916, was originally 10 minutes long. Defending champion Chestnut won in 2008 by consuming 59 HDB, a new record for a 10-minute competition.

Various speed-eating techniques, well known to avid fans, include the Solomon method. Pioneered by Kobayashi in 2001, this technique involves breaking the hot dog in half, eating both halves simultaneously, then eating the bun. Other competitors prefer to eat the hot dog and bun separately, and some dunk the bun in water before swallowing it. Although the International Federation of Competitive Eating discourages at-home training, participants are rumored to train for this highly competitive sport. For example, Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas is said to consume large quantities of diet cola.

The pageantry and the competition will again be broadcast live by ESPN, which enjoyed an audience of more than one million households for this event in 2008. To balance the excess of the contest, Nathan's Famous plans to give 100,000 hot dogs to the Food Bank for New York City.

Sources:
Major League Eating, http://www.majorleagueeating.com/
Associated Press/ESPN, http://espn.go.com/gen/news/2001/0704/1222429.html
International Federation of Competitive Eating, http://www.ifoce.com/safety.php
Jeff Yang, San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/05/26/eat.DTL
Nathan's Famous, http://www.nathansfamous.com/PageFetch/getpage.php?pgid=27