2014 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest category

2014 Nathan’s personal bests

Joey Chestnut's proposal to Neslie Ricasa before the 2014 Nathan's finals makes Bleacher Report's list of the best proposals in sports history.
The Belfast Telegraph has an interview with Hillsborough Oyster Festival champion Colin Shirlow, who claims he came in 11th place at the men's Nathan's finals last month. According to the official results, he finished in last place with 3 hot dogs; Erik Denmark reports he ate 11, which would put him at 14th place.
Ken Hoffman of the Houston Chronicle has a column mentioning judging Sonya Thomas in the 2014 women's Nathan's finals calling Miki Sudo's victory "one of the greatest upsets in competitive eating history". Sonya has never finished ahead of Miki Sudo.
Pro Sound Network has an article about the audio setup for the Nathan's finals.
Surf and Stillwell has a picture of a Nathan's T-shirt autographed by most (if not all) of the 2014 Nathan's finalists.
SportsMediaWatch reports that the tape-delayed Nathan's finals set a viewership record on ESPN2 of 2.8 million. The audience was boosted by the World Cup match preceding it, which had 4.9 million viewers.
It has been over 72 hours since the Nathan's finals concluded and the only results appearing on a MLE website appear to be tweets about the men's top 3 and female winner. MajorLeagueEating.com has no results and facebook.com/eatfast lacks any information about the final update Jul 8 full results have been posted

2014 men’s Nathans finals

Official Top 3 (Full results – July 8)
1) Joey Chestnut 61 8th victory in a row, proposed to Neslie Ricasa before contest
2) Matt Stonie 56
3) Tim Janus 44
4T) Brian Dudzinski 34
4T) Erik Denmark 34
6) Juan Rodriguez 32
7) Adrian Morgan 29
8) Marcos Owens 26
9) Badlands Booker 25
10) Yasir Salem 19.75
11) Aaron Osthoff 19.5
12) Pablo Martinez 17
13) Ronnie Hartman, 14
14T) Sean Gordon, 10
14T) Sgt. Horacio Chanyau, 10
16) Colin Shirlow 3

Jeff Butler missed the contest due to a cancelled flight

Post contest coverage

The men’s Nathan’s contest will be live at noon eastern on ESPNews and ESPN3.com. It will be rerun on ESPN2 at 2pm eastern. If the France / Germany World Cup game goes to overtime / penalty kicks, it will cut into that program. The contest will also be rerun at 6pm eastern today and July 5 and 6.

Matt Stonie has defeated Joey Chestnut in two of their last three matchups. He has also posted a training session video where he ate 66 hot dogs; if he can replicate that today, he could threatens Joey Chestnut’s Nathan’s streak.

Pre contest coverage

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2014 women’s Nathan’s finals

Results Official top 3
Larell Marie has the top 6 (Full Results – July 8)
1) Miki Sudo 34 – ends 11 year streak for Sonya as top Coney Island woman
2) Sonya Thomas 27.75 – lowest July 4 total since 2003 debut
3) Michelle Lesco 27
4) Juliet Lee 23.5
5) Meredith Boxberger 18
6) Larell Marie 14
7) Carlene LeFevre 11
8) Neslie Ricasa 10
9) Mary Bowers, 9
10) Marlene Wigginton, 8.5
11) Nicole Pulig, 7.5
12) Nicole Rodriguez, 7

13) Val Bromann 3

Post Contest Coverage

A brief recap of the Sonya Thomas vs. Miki Sudo rivalry:

  • From her IFOCE / MLE debut in June 2013 to April 2013, Sonya thomas maintained a winning streak against other female competiitve eaters for 118 months.
  • After success in local Las Vegas eating contests and challenges, Miki Sudo debuted in Major League Eating at the 2013 Las Vegas qualifier. Her total of 40 hot dogs was the best ever for a Nathan’s debut in a 10 minute contest (and best overall since Kobayashi’s first USA contest in 2001)
  • About a week before the 2013 Nathan’s finals, it is announced Miki Sudo will not compete. A Las Vegas Weekly interview from last month has more on her withdrawal.
  • With Miki Sudo not competing in the 2013 women’s Nathan’s finals, Sonya Thomas wins the female competition for the third year in a row (and maintains an 11 year streak where she is the top performing woman on July 4).
  • In subsequent contests, Miki Sudo would have success against Sonya Thomas, starting a winning streak which is currently at 8 competitions.
  • In December 2013, Miki Sudo (#4) would be ranked ahead of Sonya Thomas (#5), ending a decade where she was the top woman in the IFOCE/MLE rankings
  • Last month, Miki Sudo qualified for the Nathan’s finals. Her total of 40 hot dogs matched her amount from last year and made her the only woman to hit 40+ in the past 23 months. She is currently in New York City and will try to surpass that amount.
  • According to MJP, Miki Sudo has gone from being an +120 underdog to a -150 favorite in online sports casinos.

Contest coverage roundup

  • General
    Val Bromann, who is also competing in the contest, has a contest preview
    USA Today says the women’s contest might have the best drama
  • Sonya Thomas
    WSJ.com video
    Bloomberg.com video
    Fiscal Times article
    Washington.CBSLocal.com article
  • Miki Sudo
    Mental Floss article
    Agence France Press article claims Miki Sudo could dominate. (Miki claims a 10 contest streak vs. Sonya; it appears to be actually 8)
  • Michelle “Cardboard Shell” Lesco
    Interview with Womens Health Mag
    WGN TV interview
  • Mary Bowers
    Dana Point Times article

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Joey Chestnut vs. Matt Stonie / Sonya Thomas vs. Miki Sudo head to head results

A list of head to head results over the past year for the favorites in the two Nathan’s contests: Joey Chestnut & Matt Stonie and Sonya Thomas and Miki Sudo follows. Bovada is listing Joey Chestnut as a 1/12 favorite and Matt Stonie as a 9/1 underdog; they are not taking bets on the women’s contest. (via oddshark)
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The Village Voice reports that Professor Thom's will hold a Nathan's after party tomorrow at 7 pm. Joey Chestnut is expected to attend.
Depsite calling its hot dog eating contest a "brilliant exercise in brand building", investorplace.com suggests passing on purchasing Nathan's stock.
According to BetFair, Sonya Thomas is the Nathan's female favorite at 4/6; Miki Sudo is the top underdog at 5/4.
Fansided reports that Bob Shoudt and Pat Bertoletti are 20/1 underdogs to win the 2014 Nathan's finals (neither qualified). Joey Chestnut is the favorite at 1/20; Matt Stonie is the top underdog at 6/1.

2014 Nathan’s Finals field

Here is the field for the 2014 Nathan’s final and their qualifying victories sorted by amount. update Official field: men’s | women’sColin Shirlow of Northern Ireland is receiving a bye
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Tropical Storm Arthur could form from a low pressure system near Florida and impact the east coast of the United States later this week. There is currently a 60% chance of rain for New York City July 4. (Predicted high 76, predicted low 65).

2014 Cleveland Nathan’s qualifier

update Winners Results: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
1) Brian Dudzinksi 29.5
2) Jeff Butler 29, takes wild card lead
3) Jim Reeves 22
4T) Crazy Legs Conti 20
4T) Brian Subich 20
6) Scott Thomas 18
7) Matt Bonnano 16
8) Bill Myers 14
9) Jacob Halicek 12
10) Tim Cain 10

1W) Nikki Rodriguez 10 – Neslie Ricasa takes wild card
2W) Molly N 5.5
update Brian Dudzinski might have won the men’s contest

Bob  Shoudt predicts he will eat 37 hot dogs in the first 8 minutes.

This might be the first qualfier where two unranked women hit 10+ if Nikki Rodriguez and Molly Nemunaitis compete.

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2014 Nathan’s finals live on ESPNews

The July 4 schedule for ESPNews shows that the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest will be shown live on that channel starting at noon. Only the men’s contest will be televised; ESPNews will show SportsCenter at 11:30. There will be three tape-delayed showings of the contest on ESPN2 on July 4, 5 and 6 and ESPN Classic will show 6 contests from previous years on July 4. The main ESPN channel has no listings of the 2014 Nathan’s contest, this would make it the first year since 2003 it was not televised on that channel.

A listing of MLE programming on ESPN networks follows:

(Nathan’s finals viewer numbers from this post)

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Two Nathan's judgeships are currently up for auction on charitybuzz.com. The current bid is $250; bidding ends on July 2.

Penultimate Nathan’s 2014 finals roster

With one qualifier left, here is the current field for the 2014 Nathan’s finals. Bob Shoudt is not listed as an entrant in Sunday’s qualifier in Cleveland, which would end an eight year streak of competing in the finals. Pete Davekos’ 6 year finals streak also appears to be coming to a close.

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2014 Nathan’s Sonoma qualifier

2014 Nathan’s Boston qualifier

update June 26 Mix104.1 has an interview with female winner Nicole Pulig

update June 23 Boston.com has a gallery with the totals for the top 3 men.

update June 22 The Boston Herald has an article, video and gallery
MyFoxBoston has a video

update Results

1) Matt Stonie 53, personal best, 10 minute qualifier record, New England record
2) David Wood

1W) Nicole Pulig 7.5
2W) Mia Davekos 6

CBSLocal has a an article

Matt Stonie thinks a Nathan’s qualifier record might be possible today. Here are the 45+ qualifier results:

2007 Jun 2 1st 59.5 12 min Joey “Jaws” Chestnut Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier Tempe, AZ
2006 May 18 1st 50 12 min Joey “Jaws” Chestnut Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier Las Vegas, NV
2009 May 16 1st 50 10 min Tim “Eater X” Janus Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier East Hartford, CT
2013 Jun 29 1st 50 10 min Tim “Eater X” Janus Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier – men Queens, NY
2013 Jun 22 1st 47 10 min Matt “Megatoad” Stonie Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier – men Boston, MA
2007 May 3 1st 46 12 min Pat “Deep Dish” Bertoletti Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier Las Vegas, NV
2010 Jun 26 1st 46 10 min Tim “Eater X” Janus Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier Queens, NY
2011 Jun 4 1st 45 10 min Tim “Eater X” Janus Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier – men Queens, NY
2012 May 19 1st 45 10 min Tim “Eater X” Janus Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier – men Atlantic City, NJ

Comments (24)

The Boston Herald lists Mia Davekos, Richard Pruitt, Nicole Kulig and Christopher Bruno as the locals competing in tomorrow's Nathan's qualifier in Boston.
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