Matt Stonie and Miki Sudo seek to defend their hot-dog-eating titles at Nathan’s on July 4
Sweikert Alley, Nathan’s Famous
1310 Surf Ave. at Stillwell Ave.
Monday, July 4, free, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Admission: free
212-627-5766
www.nathansfamous.com
www.majorleagueeating.com
The 100th anniversary of Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest is promising to be one of the best following last year’s results. After eight straight victories, California native Joey “Jaws” Chestnut was upset by fellow Golden Stater Matt Stonie, who edged him in a close battle, 62-60. (In 2007, Chestnut dethroned Takeru Kobayashi, who had won the title six consecutive times.) In the women’s division, New York native Miki Sudo defended her belt against South Korea’s Sonya Thomas, the Black Widow, who had captured the first three women’s championships, which started in 2011. Chestnut got ready for the ten-minute Independence Day showdown by devouring 73½ franks and buns in a DC match, breaking his own world record of 69. The festivities begin at 10:00 in the morning on July 4, with the women (Sudo, Thomas, Juliet Lee, Mary Bowers, Noelle Dudzinski, Michelle Lesco, Kassandra Zapata, Nela Zisser, Elizabeth Petra, Meredith Boxberger, Larell Marie Mele, BeeJay Alexander) taking the stage at 10:45 and the men (Stonie, Chestnut, Marcos Owens, Juan Rodriguez, Brian Dudzinski, Rich LeFevre, Crazy Legs Conti, Adrian Morgan, Steven Schuster, Geoffrey Esper, Badlands Booker, Gideon Oji) at 12:30. In conjunction with the event, which you can watch live in Coney Island or on television on ESPN, Nathan’s will donate 100,000 hot dogs to the Food Bank for New York City, which it has been doing annually since 2008.