A timeline listing the intersection of the worlds of competitive eating and the 2016 Republican presidential candidate follows:

• 1966 Fred Trump, father of Donald, has the Steeplechase demolished. The Coney Island amusement park had earlier rejected a purchase offer from the Handwerker family, founders of Nathan’s Famous.
• 2005 Sports Illustrated has a blurb
  about filmmaker Michael Tollin’s plans for a fictional movie based on
  Bill “El Wingador” Simmon that did not come to fruition. Tollin would
  later make a documentary about the USFL spring football league in which Donald Trump was cast as the villain.
• 2005-2007 The Trump Marina in Atlantic City holds a wing eating contest for females only during Super Bowl weekend.
  

  2005 Feb 3		Wing Fling 1	Trump Marina	Atlantic City, NJ
  2006 Feb 4		Wing Fling 2	Trump Marina	Atlantic City, NJ
  2007 Feb 3		Wing Fling 3	Trump Marina	Atlantic City, NJ

  2007 contest video

• 2009-2012 The Trump Plaza Beach Bar in Atlantic City, NJ hosts a Nathan’s qualifier. The winners of those contests:
  

  2009 May 23	1st	30.5	10 min	“The Lovely” Juliet Lee	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier	Atlantic City, NJ
  2010 May 29	1st	40	10 min	Bob “The Notorious B.O.B.” Shoudt	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier	Atlantic City, NJ
  2011 May 28	1st	27	10 min	Pat “from Moonachie” Philbin	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier – men	Atlantic City, NJ
  2011 May 28	1st	34	10 min	Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier – women	Atlantic City, NJ
  2012 May 19	1st	45	10 min	Tim “Eater X” Janus	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier – men	Atlantic City, NJ
  2012 May 19	1st	18.5	10 min	Larell Marie “The Real Deal” Mele	Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier – women	Atlantic City, NJ

  2010 gallery | 2011 video

• 2013 The Trump Plaza was sold to Meruelo Group for $20 million. No Nathan’s qualifiers would take place at that site after the sale.
• Dec 2015 Everybody Loves Raymond’s in San Antonio starts a “Shut Your Mouth Trump” spicy burger challenge in response to negative feelings about the candidate by the restaurant’s clientele. 
• Feb 2016 Donald Trump visits Chez Vachon in Machester, NH for a campaign stop. A picture of him in front of the “Wall of Fame” for the restaurant’s poutine challenge would receive a lot of publicity. Hillary and Bill Clinton would also visit the location.
• May 2016 Burger Urge in Queensland, Australia holds a “Trump Burger” contest awarding a trip to Trump Tower in New York City won by Col “The Conqueror” MacLaurin.
• Aug 2016 Howard Lorber, chairman of Nathan’s Famous, is announced as a member of Donald Trump’s economic policy team.  Lorber received a $25 million payment in 2015 after a special dividend was issued to Nathan’s stockholders.

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Results from the first qualifier in the 2016-17 Nathan’s circuit: Part 1 | Part 2

Men
1 Brian Dudzinksi 27.5
2 Badlands Booker 25.5, takes wild card lead
3 Nate Biller 18

Women
1) Liz McClurg 9.5
2) Taylor Coombs 8.5, takes wild card lead
3) Noelle Morgan 8, thinks she had 8.5

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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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Pages 58-61 from “Eat This Book” about the “history” of Nathan’s Famous eating contest can be viewed below (click on pages to enlarge) or by using Google Books. The section treats the 1916 origin story as a historical fact instead of an “urban legend”.

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