Former boxing champion Ricky "Hitman" Hatton ordered a breakfast challenge at a restaurant in Spain. (Daily Mail article)
There will be a hot dog eating contest at the the July 5 Durham Bulls game awarding $1000 to the winner. update The contest was in 2013 (via comment)
New books out about Nathan’s Famous
The Village Voice has an article about Famous Nathan, a book about the history of the hot dog restaurant that will be released June 21 co-authored by Lloyd Handwerker, a grandson of the company founder. The book is a companion to the 2014 documentary by the same name and will include a debunking of the 1916 contest origin myth. Another book Nathan’s Famous: The First 100 Years of America’s Favorite Frankfurter Company by William Handwerker, who is also a grandson of the founder, was released on May 10.
Over five years into his competitive eating career, a "Rookie Card" for Matt Stonie can be found in boxes of 2016 Leaf Sports Heroes.
On Saturday, Nela Zisser did the "Man" vs. Burger contest at Goodtime Burgers in Sydney and appears to have won the $500 first prize. Nela also did a Domino Pizza contest vs. Kate Ovens via youtube (Nela video | Kate video).
1978 Nathan’s Memorial Day hot dog eating contest
In the 1970s, Nathan’s held Coney Island hot dog eating contests throughout the summer. Here is the account of the 1978 Memorial Day contest from the Google News Archive. (note the 1917 contest origin year).
The new poll asks what man currently ranked in the MLE top 13 is most likely to finish in the Nathan's finals top 3. The race for third place should be wide open after Tim "Eater X" Janus announced his retirement.
The Straits Times has an article about Singaporean competitive eating with mini-profiles of competitive eaters. The SmartLocal has a video of Singaporeans trying competitive eating including Zermatt Neo and Thomasina Ow. update May 31 Time Out has an interview with Thomasina Ow. updat June 2 Today Online also has an interview with Thomasina Ow.
Heinkel's Hot Dog Eating Contest will award $500/$250/$100 in Decatur, IL on August 6. Qualifiers will be held in June and July.
Cameron's Clothing Company in Kindersley, SK will hold a taco eating contest on June 4 awarding $500 to the winner.
Joey Chestnut defends Illegal Pete’s burrito
update June 1 Westword has a gallery
update May 30 Shelly Fradkin has a full contest video
Results for Illegal Pete’s burrito eating contest at tonight’s Denver Outlaws game: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
1) Joey Chestnut 14.5, defends title
2) Adrian Morgan 9.5
3T) Michelle Lesco 7.5
3T) Yasir Salem 7.5
3T) Josh Miller
6) Mark Sutherburg 7.25
7) Joshua Kahill 4
8) Bryan Beard 3.5
9) Mary Bowers 3
10T) Alex Perez 2.5
10T) Noah Molnar 2.5
12) Benjamin Parmenter 2.25
Joey Chestnut did a podcast on ESPN Denver yesterday
Geoff Esper wins pepperoni rolls, Miki Sudo not listed
update Miki Sudo posted a picture from the Delta terminal in Atlanta, so presumably she had travel issues
TWV has a contest video
update WDTV has a video Miki Sudo does not seem to have competed.
Results from today’s pepperoni roll eating contest at the Three Rivers Festival in Fairmont, WV Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
1) Geoff Esper 23
2T) Gideon Oji 20
2T) Sonya Thomas 20
4) Brian Dudzinski 19.75
5) Eric “Badlands” Booker 17.5
6) Juliet Lee 17
7) Matt Cohen 10.75
8) Michael Deitz 10
9) Matthew Raible 8
10) Bill Myers 7.75
Miki Sudo was expected to compete as of this morning
2016 Nathan’s Charlotte qualifier
update May 31 Charlotte Agenda has a contest report with a full roster
update May 29 The Sporting News has a contest report. The men’s top 3
1) David Schuster 21.5
2) Ronnie Hartman 18.5
3) Damien Boykin 16
Native New Yorker Elizabeth Petra was the sole woman, perhaps the female Carolinians boycotted due to the HB2 transgender bathroom law 😉
WCCB has a gallery
Steve Shuster won the men’s division with 21 and Elizabeth Petra took the women’s with 6
Ronnie Hartman ad Corey Fanguy are the expected ranked eaters. Rich Shea says a female will make her debut.
Mitchell Johnson and Anthony V. Taddeo did a podcast about the contest
SpeedStreetAutograph is claiming Michael Alvarez is a “semifinalist” who “rocked” last year’s qualifier despite a total of 11 hot dogs.
2016 Chico silver dollar pancakes
update May 29 Orovillemr.com has a contest report
Full results: Part 1 | Part 2
1 Matt Stonie 113
2 Rich LeFevre 89
3 Steve Hendry 69
4 Erik Denmark 45
5 Kirk Taylor 36
6 Chris Nichols 27
7 Dan Mires 25
7T Chris Haywood 25
9 Jerry Leu 20
10 David, Josh and Ayla 15
Matt Stonie won the contest with 113 1oz pancakes
Angie Hendry is doing a periscope video
Matt Stonie did an interview with Chicoer about the contest.
Randy Santel and Mitch Dombrowski were the first pair to finish the 40 inch pizza challenge at Toni's Pizzeria in Glasgow today.
A press release announces that the Caribbean Food Delights World Jamaican Beef Patty Eating Championship in Tappan, NY on June 26 will award $10000/$5000/$2500/$1000/$500. This is the first news about an All Pro Eating event I have heard in calendar year 2016 and this will probably be the most lucrative event in that organization's history.
Newsday has an article about Nathan's Famous centennial which reports that net income declined 81% after making interest payments to finance a bond to pay investors a $25 per share dividend.
Crazy Legs Conti faced off against a Daily Mail employee in a Nathan's hot dog eating contest streamed on facebook video today. George Shea was also present.
Mugshots will hold a burger eating contest in Covington, LA awarding $5000 to the winner. Qualifiers awarding $1000 will be held in Birmingham on June 5 and Vestavia Hills, AL on June 19.
Daily Record has an article about Randy Santel becoming the first finisher of the breakfast sandwich challenge at Hogan's in Kilmarnock, Scotland.
2016 Nathan’s finals on ESPN at 3pm
The ESPN schedule for July 4, 2016 lists the first showing of the Nathan’s finals at 3 pm. This will be a three hour tape-delay if the competition has its traditional noon start time, as the countdown counter on nathansfamous.com implies. There will also be three reruns on ESPN2. The July 4 web-streaming schedule for ESPN3.com, which shows the women’s division, is not yet available.
It appears that both ESPN and ESPN2 will be broadcasting tennis from Wimbledon while the Nathan’s finals competitions take place.
The Smithsonian has an article about a study about meerkat communities in southern Africa claiming that the animals try to maximize their food consumption to become a member of the dominant pair, which typically consists of the largest and most senior carnivores in the group.
Col "the Conqueror" MacLaurin ate 11 Trump burgers in 20 minutes at Burger Urge in New Farm, QLD, Australia to win a trip to Trump Tower in New York City ( gallery).
Current Nathan’s finals streaks
Here is a list of everyone who has competed in every Nathan’s finals since 2011 and the year of the start of their finals streak.
2003 Sonya Thomas
2005 Joey Chestnut
2005 Tim Janus
2006 Erik Denmark
2007 Juliet Lee
2008 Eric “Badlands” Booker update Booker missed the 2011 finals
2011 Michelle Lesco
2011 Larell Marie Mele
2011 Adrian Morgan
2011 Matt Stonie
Te Waha Nui has an interview with Nela Zisser, who hopes switching to a one hot dog at a time strategy will put her in the top five in the women's division of the Nathan's finals.
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