George Shea announced on twitter that "Hungry" Charles Hardy, also known as the Godfather of Competitive Eating, passed away. He was runner in the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest in 1998 and 1999 and also had top 5 finishes in 2000 and 2001. Hardy's loss to winner Steve Keiner by a quarter of a hot dog in the 1999 Nathan's contest was controversial since Keiner began eating before the official start signal had been given.

August 3, 2023 at 3:15 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:Fatalities, Nathan's History | Permalink * Comments (3)

3 Comments »

  1. anonymous said

    August 4, 2023 @ 3:46 pm

    This is so sad He is a shoe in for the competitive eating hall of fame with all his accomplishments . Not surprising the lack of comments on this post due in part that most of the posters on this site were not around during his tenure. If this happened 15yrs ago there would be an influx of tributes the likes you have never seen. Charles Hardy competed from 1997-2005 when the sport was fun and exciting Hardy always won a spot in the Nathans finals and even after he retired he stayed active as the commissioner of the IFOCE. Many do not know that he volunteered to recover bodies and debris after 911 and spent days and sometimes weeks in ground zero which might have played a part in his declining health years later.. I competed in a plethora of eating events and some with the media. Condolences and prayers go out to the Hardy family RIP

  2. Anonymous said

    August 5, 2023 @ 1:22 pm

    Get your facts straight it was announced on ifoce website

  3. Anonymous said

    August 7, 2023 @ 12:36 pm

    Charles RIP.

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