“They’re amazing eaters,” Mr. Rios told Dalton Walker, a Times reporter. “To stand next to them is an honor.”
Obesity be damned. Nathan's. Hot dogs. I'm helpless.
(My father took me on my first trip to the original Nathan's on Coney Island.)
Nathans | 2007 Hot Dog Contest
Hot Dog Contest History
The Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held at Nathan's Famous on the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues in Coney Island each year since 1916, according to legend.
At midday each Fourth of July, a group of 20 steely-eyed individuals line up behind a 40-foot table to begin the 12-minute contest. These competitors, known in the sport of competitive eating as gurgitators, may not appear athletic to the untrained eye of John Q. Public. However, they are among the finest athletes in the world.
A very special year for the contest was 1993, which marked the return of the coveted Mustard-Yellow International Belt to American soil. In November of 1993, in a one-on-one contest, Nathan's champ Mike Devito beat Japanese eating phenom Orio Ito to bring back the belt, which had been in Japan for seven years. By winning this contest, Devito reunified the world hot dog eating titles (an accomplishment similar to Mike Tyson's reunification of the world's boxing titles in 1987).
The bejeweled Coveted Mustard Yellow International Belt, worn only by the International Champion, is to hot dog aficionados what Faberge Eggs were to Czar Nicholas. The belt is of unknown age and value, and is unveiled only at the annual contest. The belt is now in Japan, where it stands in a secure display case in Saitama near the Nakazato Danchi campus.
IFOCE Eating Records
International Federation of Competitive Eating - IFOCE
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