Major League Eating is back! MLE willhost a local regional qualifier for the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contestat 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, 2016.
The event will be sponsored by Kroger at the Norfolk Harborfest Main Stage, located at Town Point Park, Norfolk. Nathan's is celebrating its 100 year anniversary.
The top male and female finishers in this event will qualify for a seat at the contestin Coney Island, Brooklyn, on July 4th, 2016, where they will face reigning champions Matt Stonie and Miki Sudo.
Stonie is sitting pretty at -150 odds, with Joey Chestnut farther back than one might have thought. Chestnut is coming at him with +110 odds.
You read right: Joey Chestnut has to try to unseat Stonie. Lest you forgot, Chestnut remains the world record holder, however, having consumed 69 Nathan’s hot dogs in just 10 minutes.
Sudo, the female champion, consumed 38 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes in 2015. Sudo has odds of -165, with a Sonya Thomas nipping at her heels about as much as Chestnut is nipping at Stonie's, with odds of +125.
Last year Matt "Megatoad" Stonie shocked the competitive eating world by upsetting Joey "Jaws'' Chestnut at the Fourth of July hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous in Coney Island, ending Chestnut's bid for a ninth straight victory.
Stonie, 23, who finished second the previous year, downed 62 hot dogs and buns, beating Chestnut by two. Both, interestingly, are from San Jose, California.
Stonie had defeated Chestnut previous in competitions featuring Twinkies, poutine, pumpkin pie and gyros, but never hot dogs. Basically, he was coming for him.
Chestnut, 31, had built himself into a champ with his string of victories, which included setting the record in 2013 by swallowing 69 franks. He twice reached 68 but last year had fallen off to 61. On my radio show at the time, prior to the match, he confessed to being nervous, and spoke about the pacing necessary, food-wise, in the days leading up to the event.
After his victory the previous year, he dropped to one knee and proposed to his longtime girlfriend, but they have since broken up.
The next closest competitor, Tim "Eater X" Janus, ate 35 hot dogs, and also factored in to the undoing of Chestnut.
Over on the ladies' team, Sudo, hailing from Las Vegas, ate 38 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to claim the title for the second straight year, along with claiming the $10,000 that comes with it.
She retained the coveted mustard yellow winner's championship belt after downing four more hot dogs than last year and besting Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas of Alexandria, Virginia, who devoured 31 hot dogs. Not to be forgotten: Juliet Lee, who ate 27.5 hot dogs.
For those of you looking for even more action on this rollicking event, keep in mind that the over/under for the men's is set at 63.5.
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