DirectActionEverywhere has an interview with Olivia Mihalcik-Duvall, who admits to disrupting the Nathan’s finals:

What is your favorite or most accomplished moment in activism or other DxE activity?

I would say my most accomplished moment in activism was when I was a part of the group that disrupted the Nathan’s hotdog eating contest. It went pretty much according to our plan and got a lot of media attention.

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update Jul 6 Brian Dudzinski has a video talking about the invasion of the left side of the stage. Fake blood was thrown on his food and his & Noelle Morgan’s son was knocked over.

update Jul 5 “Sentiocentrist” admitted throwing blood in this instagram caption. Dan “Big Cat” Katz said he will seek legal action following the admission.

The group Direct Action Everywhere has taken credit for and produced a video of their stage invasion of the Nathan’s finals at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3YViml5lXo. First a woman climbs on stage and throws fake blood on Crazy Legs Conti (Dan “Big Cat” Katz also gets hit). During the commotion, a blonde woman and two males climb on stage. The Daily Mail has an article about the incursion.

Here are some screen captures of the assault (click on images for full size). If have archived the video in case it gets deleted.

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update Jul 8 The Guardian has a gallery

The Daily News has an article about the attack. Three protestors, who disguised themselves as fans, were taken in to police custody after taking the stage.

Protesters also apparently tried to jump Crazy Legs Conti near the start of the contest which required police intervention. This is probably the reason for the one hot dog performance.

Dan Katz reports that protesters from PETA knocked over his plates and threw fake blood on him.

The top 8 | 9-16
1 Joey Chestnut 70
2 Matt Stonie 53, 9 less than 2015
3 Carmen Cincotti 42
4 Gideon Oji 38
5 Geoff Esper 37.5
6 Adrian Morgan 36
7T Yasir Salem 31
7T Erik Denmark 31
9 Rich LeFevre 29
10 Marcos Owens 28
11 Juan Rodriguez 27
12 Eric “Badlands” Booker 25
13 Brian Dudzinski 24
14 Steven Schuster 16
15 Dan “Big Cat” Katz 12
16 Crazy Legs Conti 1 (protest performance?)

Joey Chestnut has regained the title with a finals record 70 hot dogs

This will be a big hour for Bay Area sports. Kevin Durant has decided to join the Golden State Warriors and San Joseans Joey Chestnut and Matt Stonie should finish top 2 barring a shocking upset.

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The top 8 have been announced | 9-15
1 Miki Sudo 38.5
2 Sonya Thomas 35
3T Juliet Lee 27
3T Michelle Lesco 27
5 BeeJay Alexander 17.5
6 Nela Zisser 16.75
7T Meredith Boxberger 15.5
7T Sophia DeVita 15.5
9 Larelle Marie Mele 15
10 Kassie Zapata 13.5
11 Daniella Gioia 12.5
12 Mary Bowers 8.5
13 Noelle Morgan Dudzinski 7.75
14 Hilary Andrews 7
15 Elizabeth Petra 4

Miki Sudo ate 38.5 hot dogs to win the women’s division of the Nathan’s finals for the third year in a row. Sonya Thomas was the runner up with 35.

Hopefully we will get full results promptly since all finishers will receive prizes.

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On twitter, Juan “More Bite” Rodriguez accuses Erik “The Red Denmark” of “Pocket Dog Gate”. While Carmen Cincotti’s video shows Erik Denmark inserting his hand in his pocket immediately following the Nathan’s Washington, DC qualifier (around the 14:20 mark), it is not 100% clear if he had a hot dog in his hand. Denmark was credited with 32 hot dogs for the contest, which edged out Steve Hendry by one hot dog for the wild card.

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Here is a complete list of all people who have qualified or received byes to compete in the 2016 Nathan’s finals. It is possible there will be some no-shows.
Read the rest of this entry »

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Here are the personal bests for the past year for people who competed in the 2015-16 Nathan’s qualifier circuit. Steve Hendry did not receive a finals spot despite having the 7th best overall total. Carmen Cincotti’s surprise performance prevented the 2015-16 qualifier circuit from having no 40+ totals for the first time since 2004-5. (The leftmost column does not take ties into account.)

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