PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Franks, fireworks and freedom: July 4 is fast approaching and so is one of America's quintessential traditions — Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
This year may not have Joey Chestnut, but another champion is ready to defend her title — Miki Sudo, the nine-time women's champ. Plus, she just so happens to hail from the Tampa Bay area.
The 2024 competition at Coney Island in New York will be the first time in close to 20 years that 16-time champ Joey Chestnut won't be downing glizzies to defend his title. That's because Chestnut signed with a rival, plant-based hot dog company, something that didn't sit well with Nathan's.
Sudo and her fiancé, Nick Wehry, are the highest-ranked couple in history by Major League Eating, the official league that oversees professional eating contests worldwide.
To win the competition in 2023, Sudo downed 39 and a half hot dogs to capture the title. Back in 2020, she set the women's world record of eating 48 and a half hot dogs in 10 minutes. Wehry placed 4th in the men's competition last year, just a few spots behind Chestnut.
Sudo is the No. 1 ranked female eater in the world and now the 9-time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Women’s Champion.
Her other current world records include:
- 16.5 pints of vanilla ice cream in six minutes, set July 13, 2017
- 8.5 pounds of kimchi in six minutes, set Aug. 11, 2013
- 14 pounds of wild rice hotdish in eight minutes, set June 22, 2019
- 21 5.6-ounce corn dogs in eight minutes, set Oct. 1, 2022
"We imagine—nay, know—that this list will grow with the passing of time. For she is, simply, the reigning queen of competitive eating. Bow to her greatness or face her wrath," her biography reads.