Talk:Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest/Archive 1

Incorrect HDB Count

Kobayashi had 53 3/4 HDB's in the '06 competition not 54 and Rich LaFevre (not sure if i spelled that right) is listed as having eaten 27.76 hot dogs for another competition, which i assume is just a typo. Besides, last i knew, the dogs were only measured to the 1/8. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.118.87.174 (talk) 03:46, 8 September 2008 (UTC)

Not the first Eat off

During the 2008 broadcast, they claimed it was the first tie during regulation, and resulting "eat-off." Note that according to the NYT articles, there was a tie in 1980, with an eat off, but they still tied after that. More than likely, there's been little research and little knowledge of the history, so it was merely a mistake of reporting. Doctorindy (talk) 17:05, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Runner ups?

Can someone put the actually runner ups instead of just the flag and how many they ate? It seems kind of pointless to list a flag as second place, especially since everyone is American besides Kobayashi? This page is a sham until that change in my opinion —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iosimcash (talk • contribs) 16:39, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

1996

This article had "Little Jim Norton" listed as the 1996 winner. This is the nickname of Jimmy Norton for the Opie and Anthony show. Edward Krachie won in 1996.

http://www.cnn.com/EVENTS/1996/4july/stories/hotdog.contest/index.html

Additional research

A look through some New York Times back issues brought very little additional information. The 1979 event was held as scheduled on July 4th, but it was hardly attended it says because of rain, ongoing clean-up problems at Coney Island, and because of gas shortages. After all that, however, it didn't list who won. The NYT's of 1976 and 1977 also do not specify the winner's name, but they report it was held. Doctorindy 17:40, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

http://www.cnn.com/EVENTS/1996/4july/stories/hotdog.contest/index.html This link indicates the contest was not held in 1939, 1940, or 1941. however, that would not parallel what the NYT article stated about 1986 (being the 70th contest) and 1991 (being the 75th contest). Only one year could have been skipped if those reports are correct. The Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog-Eating Contest has been held each year since Nathan's opened in 1916, except in 1939, 1940 and 1941, when it was canceled to protest the war in Europe.

london

There are no references to any "national hotdog championships" in london (wimpy or otherwise) outside of Wikipedia and its mirrors, nor to a former champion being nicknamed "the Cleveland Steamer" (which is a slang term for an obscure sexual practice). Almost all of this page appears to be an entirely fabricated practical joke. Wikipedia's standards of scholarship win again!

Wimpies is in the Guiness book of world records. Not everything is online. cleveland steamer is a joke

Pratical joke? I do not understand this. This year's telecast - live on ESPN drew more viewers then its hockey broacasts. The show was just rerun this weekend (10/28/06) on ESPN2. This stuff is for real. I have been to the last two contests. see www.ifoce.com

Chart

Man, that chart is hideous, there's got to be a better way to do it.

• I did a major overhaul of the table, replaced the country abbreviations with flag icons, moved the notes into the notes column (where they belong), fixed the empty cells with a space holder, and overall cleaned it up. It should be easy to follow for future additions. Doctorindy 03:13, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
  • I have a question about the notes section. It claims Takeru Kobayashi set a world record in 2005, despite eating less than in 2004. Seems dubious to me. Am I missing something? Caiyern 17:38, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

The weight of hot dogs?

Do you know the actual weight of a hot dog and a bun? This is very important.

http://www.polizeros.com/2004/07/06.html

Takeru Kobayashi ... weighs 132 lbs.

... Let's assume the 2 oz. Nathan's hot dogs are used, and that the rolls ... are also 2 oz. So, 4 oz. x 53 1/2 = 13.5 pounds of food.

He ate 10% of his body weight in twelve minutes.

-- Toytoy 18:28, Aug 12, 2004 (UTC)

Each hot dog is 100 grams according to Nathan's Famous: http://nathansfamous.com/nathans/inside/htmls/nutrition_nathans.pdf -- KenBeer Aug 13, 2004

---

Data source: USDA Food Nutrient Database 16-1, serving size: 100 g.

	Nathan's	generic beef franks	Oscar Mayer beef franks	Hormel Wrangler beef franks	roast beef sandwich	plain hamburger + 1 patty	plain hamburger + 2 patties	plain rolls	43g plain roll + 57 g generic beef franks
Fat (g)	20.14	29.57	30.26	25.69	9.9	13.13	15.85	4.33	18.72
Carbs (g)	22.67	4.06	2.35	2.11	24.06	33.90	24.39	49.45	23.58
Protein (g)	10.61	11.24	11.35	12.56	15.47	13.69	17.00	4.33	8.27

Does it look like hot dog + bun? Or is the bun not included? Nathan's 100 g serving contains much more carbohydrates than other products. I guess it means a bun is included. My simulated hot dog + bun is very similar to Nathan's. A standard USDA 5" long by 7/8" diameter frankfurter weighs 57 g (8 per lb). A standard USDA roll is 43 g.

-- Toytoy 00:02, Aug 14, 2004 (UTC)

---

I remember I have seen a full list of winners on the Nathan's website last year. But I don't see it now. There are websites that store past webpages (search engines, and some "Time Machine" servere). I guess somewhere out there someone might have a list of all past winners.

Who knows the measurements (length and weight) of a Nathan's dog? And also the bun?

I think it will be fun to describe each contestant's way to eat the dogs. -- Toytoy

---

"George Shea" has been mentioned twice in the article. Who's he ? Jay 12:32, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC)

head of the IFOCE and shea communications (PR firm for nathan's contest)

Unusual article?

Should this perhaps be listed on Unusual_Articles? -Cookiemobsta 19:54, 16 May 2005 (UTC)

Jim Mullin

Anyone know where in Ireland Jim was from, or indeed any of his biographical details? Thanks in advance, Fergananim

1939 WWII Contest cancellation

Why would a July 4, 1939 contest be cancelled due to a war starting in September 1939?

--Ojrifkin 05:25, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Kobayashi's nickname

On this article, Takeru Kobayashi's nickname has been given variously as "The Prince" and "Tsunami", the latter being the only nickname given on the Takeru Kobayashi arcticle. Is there any evidence given to Kobayashi having the nickname "the Prince"?

Archive

I've archived the bottom list of past performances in order to clean them up a bit...all the old info will still be here until it's done. Doctorindy 16:11, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Top contestants (20 HDBs or more in 12 minutes)

30 hot dogs or more ("The Tre")

• Chip Simpson (PA, USA) - 39.25 (#1 Sunrise FL Qualifier March 24 2007), 38 (#1 MN Qualifier June 17 2006), 33 (#6 2006)
• Nobuyuki "The Giant/Gutzilla" Shirota (Japan) - 38 (#2 2004), 31 (May 30, 2004 Tokyo, Japan Qualifier)
• Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (home page) (Rookie of the year 2004) (Alexandria, VA USA) - 37 (#2 2005, #3 2006) 36.5 (#1 June 2006 qualifier)
• Rich "The Locust" LeFevre (Henderson, NV USA) - 33 (#2 Las Vegas Qualifier 2007), 30.5 (#2 Las Vegas Qualifier 2006)
• Kazutoyo "Super Express"/"The Rabbit" Arai (Fukuoka (Saitama) Japan) - 31 (#2/20 2001)
• Ed "Cookie" Jarvis (home page) (Nesconset, NY USA) - 30.5 (#2 2003), 29 (#4 2005), 24 (May 16 2004 Boston MA Qualifier)
• Eric "Badlands" Booker (home page) (Copiague, NY USA) - 30 (#1 2003 Belmont NY Qualifier), 29.5 (#3 2003)
• "Humble" Bob Shoudt (home page) (Royersford, PA USA) - 30 (#7 2006)

25 hot dogs or more

• Keiji Oguni (Isezaki-shi, Gunma-ken, Japan) - 29 (#4 2005), 19 (2005 Tokyo, Japan Qualifier)
• Hall Hunt - 28.75 (#1 2007 Charlotte, NC Qualifier)
• Patrick "Pat From Moonachie" Philbin (Moonachie, NJ USA) - 27 (#1 2007 Molly Pitcher qualifier.) 26.5 (#1(tie, lost in runoff) 2007 Shea Stadium Qualifier) 25 (#2 2006 East Hartford Qualifier), 24 (#4 2006 Philadelphia Qualifier)
• Erik Denmark - 26.5 (#1(tie, won in runoff) 2007 Shea Stadium Qualifier)
• Juliet Lee 26 (#1 2007 Norfork, VA Qualifier)
• Oleg "The Great Z" Zhornitskiy (Brooklyn, USA) - 25.5 (#3/20 2002), 19 (June 26 2004? Long Island NY Qualifier)
• Allen Goldstein - 25.5 (#2 2007 Shea Stadium Qualifier)
• Tim Brown 25 (#3 2007 Tempe AZ Qualifier)
• Carlene "Madame of Etiquette" LeFevre (Henderson, NV USA) - 25 (#7 2005), 23 (#1 June 25, 2005 Atlanta Qualifier, 22 (#6? 2004)
• "Big" Brian Subich, (Johnstown, PA USA) - 25 (May 27th, 2006 Philadelphia PA Qualifier)

20 hot dogs or more ("The Deuce")

• Dale Boone - 21 (#1 2007 Zoo Atlanta Qualifier)
• Loren "Bubba" Yarbrough - 20 (#2 2007 Zoo Atlanta Qualifier)
• Justin Mih 21 (#4 2007 Tempe AZ Qualifier)
• Marco Marquez 21 (#5 2007 Tempe AZ Qualifier)
• Hirofumi "The Tokyo Terror" Nakajima (Kofu, Japan) - 24.5 (1997)
• Misao "The Big Banana" Fujita (Japan) - 24 (#2 2000)
• "Hungry" Charles Hardy (Brooklyn, NY, USA) - 23.5 (#3/20 2001), 18.5 (June 30 2004 Staten Island NY Qualifier)
• Ron "Hizzoner" Koch (Las Vegas, NV USA) - 23 (#8 2005), 23 (#2 May 27 2004 Las Vegas NV Qualifier)
• Edward "The Animal"/"The Maspeth Monster" Krachie (Maspeth NY, USA) - 22.25 (#1 1996), 18 (Qualifier - in 6 minutes!)
• Takako "The Sweet Queen" Akasaka (Japan) - 22.25 (#3 2000)
• Steve Addicks - 22 (#4?/20 2001 USA)
• Andrew "The Real Meal" Becker (Lighthouse Point, FL USA) - 22
• "Gentleman" Joe Menchetti USA - 22 (?), 17 (#1 Saratoga Game and Raceway Qualifier USA)
• Crazy Legs Conti (home page) (New York NY, USA) - 24 (#1 2007 MN Qualifier), 21.5 (#1 April 15, 2006 Sunrise, FL Qualifier), 20 (#1 Shea Stadium 2005)
• Frank "Hollywood" Dellarosa USA - 21.5 (#1 1991)
• Jim "Buffalo"/"Superman" Reeves (Buffalo NY, USA) - 21 (#7? 2004), 19.5 (May 2005 Philadelphia PA Qualifier)
• Russ Keeler - 23 (2007 qualifier)
• Seaver Miller- 21 (QVC Qualifier West Chester, PA June 22, 2006) - 20.5 (Coney Island, NY July 4, 2006)
• Don "Moses" Lerman (home page) (Levittown NY, USA) - 20.75 (August 22 2004 Saratoga NY Qualifier), 20 (#5?/20 2001)
• Hall Hunt (Jacksonville, FL USA) - 20.375 (#2 2006 Norfolk, VA Qualifier)
• Steve "The Hot Dog Terminator" Keiner (Egg Harbor NJ, USA) - 20.25 (#1 1999)
• Mike "The Scholar" DeVito- 20 (#1 1994 USA)
• Bartoszek Tadeusz - 20 (1999)
• Mike Iskoe "Diskoe" - 20.5 (#8/15 - May 26, 2007 Philadelphia qualifier)
• "Jammin'"/"Chef" Joe LaRue (Hollywood FL, USA) - 20 (#8? 2004), 18 (June 19 2004 Pembroke Lakes FL Qualifier)
• Don Schaefer - (Myrtle Beach, SC USA) 12 (2002?), "about" 20 - (#1 2002 Atlanta GA, USA Qualifier)

Notability

Just for informational purposes, Wikipedia:Notability should be reviewed because many of the winners/competitors have been "red linked" and there is very little reason to create a page for them, or suggest that it be done. Most of the winners prior to the past few years are simply normal people and are not recognized "competetive eaters."

I've removed a number of the red links, as these people, as you have said, are highly unlikely to ever have their own articles. If they do, we can always go back and blue link.Mk5384 (talk) 03:31, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

Health Effects

Shouldn't this article include a section on the negative health effects of competitive eating, or other controversies? Ogeez 20:28, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it should. I leave this to someone familiar with the issues. Karl gregory jones (talk) 03:11, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Do they barf afterwards?

Is it common for contestants to regurgitate the food after the competition? It seems they are in some serious distress afterwards. It was very surprising that Chestnut was able to give an interview after eating 66 hot dogs.

Some of them certainly do, some of them go and eat another meal afterwards... 70.51.9.28 (talk) 12:15, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Babe Ruth

there's a note about Babe Ruth competing, but not source. is this a joke? Murderbike 21:36, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

• It wasn't not my edit, but there is documented evidence that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig often had eating contests in the locker room. But I have never seen any sources indicate that Babe Ruth officially competed in the Nathan's contest. FearNotMan 15:47, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

Archive dump

This section hasn't been updated in over 2 years. It adds little or nothing to the article. If it were to even belong, it shouldn't be here. Instead, it belongs in a "competetive eating" list. Doctorindy (talk) 16:26, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Top contestants

Contestant	Hometown	Best Coney Island showing			Best Qualifier showing
		Hot dogs	Rank	Date	Hot dogs	Rank	Date	Location
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut	San Jose	66	1st	July 4, 2007	59½	1st	June 2, 2007	Tempe
Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi	Nagano	63	2nd	July 4, 2007			2001?
Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti	Chicago	49	3rd	July 4, 2007	46	1st	May 3, 2007	Las Vegas
Tim "Eater X" Janus	New York City	43.5	4th	July 4, 2007	50	1st	May 16, 2009	East Hartford
Chip "ChipBurger" Simpson	Gainesville, FL	33	6th	July 4, 2006	39¼	1st	March 24, 2007	Sunrise, FL
Nobuyuki "The Giant/Gutzilla" Shirota	Japan	38	2nd	July 4, 2004	31	1st	May 30, 2004	Toyko, Japan
Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas	Alexandria, VA	39	2nd 3rd	July 4, 2007	38½	1st	June, 2008	Norfolk, VA
"Humble" Bob Shoudt	Philadelphia	30	7th	July 4, 2006	38	1st	May 24, 2008	Philadelphia
Hall Hunt	Jacksonville, FL	30	tied for 5th	July 4, 2008	34½	1st	June 14, 2008	Charlotte, NC
Rich "The Locust" LeFevre	Henderson, NV	-	-	-	33	2nd	2007	Las Vegas
Kazutoyo "Super Express/The Rabbit" Arai	Fukuoka, Japan	-	-	-	31	1st	February 2, 2001	Japan
Ed "Cookie" Jarvis	Nesconset, NY	30½	2nd	July 4, 2003	24	1st	May 16, 2004	Boston
Eric "Badlands" Booker	Copiague, NY	29½	3rd	July 4, 2003	30	1st	2004	Belmont, NY
Keiji Oguni	Gunma-ken	29	4th	July 4, 2005	19			Toyko, Japan Qualifier
"Pat From Moonachie" Philbin	Moonachie, NJ	-	-	-	27 26½	1st 1st-tie	2007 2007	Cranbury, NJ Shea Stadium (lost runoff)

• Bold indicates personal best

• Tim Brown 33 (#1 2008 Arizona Mills Qualifier)* Erik Denmark - 26.5 (#1(tie, won in runoff) 2007 Shea Stadium Qualifier)
• Juliet Lee 26 (#1 2007 Norfork, VA Qualifier)
• Oleg "The Great Z" Zhornitskiy (Brooklyn, USA) - 25.5 (#3/20 2002), 19 (June 26 2004? Long Island NY Qualifier)
• Allen Goldstein - 25.5 (#2 2007 Shea Stadium Qualifier)
• Carlene "Madame of Etiquette" LeFevre (Henderson, NV USA) - 25 (#7 2005), 23 (#1 June 25, 2005 Atlanta Qualifier, 22 (#6? 2004)
• "Big" Brian Subich, (Johnstown, PA USA) - 25 (May 27th, 2006 Philadelphia PA Qualifier)
• Dale Boone - 21 (#1 2007 Zoo Atlanta Qualifier)
• Loren "Bubba" Yarbrough - 20 (#2 2007 Zoo Atlanta Qualifier)
• Justin Mih 21 (#4 2007 Tempe AZ Qualifier)
• Marco Marquez 21 (#5 2007 Tempe AZ Qualifier)
• Hirofumi "The Tokyo Terror" Nakajima (Kofu, Japan) - 24.5 (1997)
• Misao "The Big Banana" Fujita (Japan) - 24 (#2 2000)
• "Hungry" Charles Hardy (Brooklyn, NY, USA) - 23.5 (#3/20 2001), 18.5 (June 30 2004 Staten Island NY Qualifier)
• Ron "Hizzoner" Koch (Las Vegas, NV USA) - 23 (#8 2005), 23 (#2 May 27 2004 Las Vegas NV Qualifier)
• Edward "The Animal"/"The Maspeth Monster" Krachie (Maspeth NY, USA) - 22.25 (#1 1996), 18 (Qualifier - in 6 minutes!)
• Takako "The Sweet Queen" Akasaka (Japan) - 22.25 (#3 2000)
• Steve Addicks - 22 (#4?/20 2001 USA)
• Andrew "The Real Meal" Becker (Lighthouse Point, FL USA) - 22
• "Gentleman" Joe Menchetti USA - 22 (?), 17 (#1 Saratoga Game and Raceway Qualifier USA)
• Crazy Legs Conti (home page) (New York NY, USA) - 24 (#1 2007 MN Qualifier), 21.5 (#1 April 15, 2006 Sunrise, FL Qualifier), 20 (#1 Shea Stadium 2005)
• Frank "Hollywood" Dellarosa USA - 21.5 (#1 1991)
• Jim "Buffalo"/"Superman" Reeves (Buffalo NY, USA) - 21 (#7? 2004), 19.5 (May 2005 Philadelphia PA Qualifier)
• Russ Keeler - 23 (2007 qualifier)
• Seaver Miller- 21 (QVC Qualifier West Chester, PA June 22, 2006) - 20.5 (Coney Island, NY July 4, 2006)
• Don "Moses" Lerman (home page) (Levittown NY, USA) - 20.75 (August 22 2004 Saratoga NY Qualifier), 20 (#5?/20 2001)
• Steve "The Hot Dog Terminator" Keiner (Egg Harbor NJ, USA) - 20.25 (#1 1999)
• Mike "The Scholar" DeVito - 20 (#1 1994 USA)
• Bartoszek Tadeusz - 20 (1999)
• "Jammin'"/"Chef" Joe LaRue (Hollywood FL, USA) - 20 (#8? 2004), 18 (June 19 2004 Pembroke Lakes FL Qualifier)
• Don Schaefer - (Myrtle Beach, SC USA) 12 (2002?), "about" 20 - (#1 2002 Atlanta GA, USA Qualifier)

Is the ESPN broadcast live or delayed?

What time does the contest take place? I've been watching ESPN for the past 20 minutes (1:05 pm - 1:25 pm Eastern) and it is clearly a pre-game show. But the article was edited well before 1 PM to say that Joey Chestnut already won, eating 54 hot dogs. What's going on? --Keeves (talk) 17:29, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

I retract the above. I have since learned that ESPN did broadcast the contest live from noon to 1 PM, and then rebroadcast it from 1 PM to 2 PM. I did research both my tv listings (which made it look like a single 2-hour show) and also the ESPN website (which gave no times at all), but I saw no clue that they'd be showing a rerun immediately after the event. --Keeves (talk) 02:50, 5 July 2010 (UTC)

H.D.B. ??

The acronym H.D.B. is used throughout the article, but not defined on first use. What does it mean? Hot Dog Buns? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.250.132.134 (talk) 21:18, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

from the second paragraph: "54 hot dogs and buns (HDBs) in 10 minutes"; It refers not to the buns on their own, but a hot dog and a bun. --Keeves (talk) 21:03, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Rules

This is confusing: "Partially eaten hot dogs count," it says. Well, then contestants could take one bite of a dog and then go on to the next one. This is obviously incorrect. Clarification requested. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Marainlaw (talk • contribs) 23:23, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

Recent contest results

• MOVING THIS SECTION OUT OF THE MAIN PAGE TEMPORARILY FOR CLEANUP Doctorindy (talk) 15:35, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

2012 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Top 3 finishers (10 minutes) Wednesday July 4, 2012
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut	68
2	Tim “Eater X” Janus	52.25
3	Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti	51

2011 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (10 minutes) Monday July 4, 2011
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut	62
2	Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti	53
3	Tim “Eater X” Janus	45
4	Bob "Notorious B.O.B." Shoudt	39
t5	Matt "Megatoad" Stonie	34
t5	Sean "Flash" Gordon	34
7	Erik "The Red" Denmark	33.5
8	Adrian Morgan	31
9	Aaron "A-Train" Osthoff	27
10	Pete "Pretty Boy" Davekos	25.5
11	Pat "From Moonachie" Philbin	25
t12	"Big" Brian Subich	23
t12	Damon Wells	23
14	Lu Mung Kui	21
15	Lam Yat Ming	14
16	Mak Tai Loi	11
*	Tim "Gravy" Brown	DNF (reversal)

2010 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Top 3 finishers (10 minutes) Sunday July 4, 2010
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut	54
2	Tim “Eater X” Janus	45
3	Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti	37

2009 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Top 3 finishers (10 minutes) Friday July 4, 2009
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut (U.S. Record, World Record)	68
2	Takeru Kobayashi	64.5
3	Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti	55

2008 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (10 minutes) Friday July 4, 2008
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut (U.S. Record, World Record tie)	59*
2	Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi (World Record tie)	59
3	Tim “Eater X” Janus	42
4	Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti	41
5	Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas	33
6 (tie)	Hall "Hoover" Hunt "Humble" Bob Shoudt	30
8	Juliet Lee	29
9 (tie)	Erik "The Red" Denmark Juris Shibayama	28
11	Tim Brown	27
12	Eric "Badlands" Booker	25.5
13 (tie)	Patrick Vandam Rich "The Locust" LeFevre	25
15	Crazy Legs Conti	24
16	Allan Goldstein	21
17	Pat Philbin	20
18	Nathan Biller	18.5
19	Pete Davekos	18
20	Arturo Rios	16
21	Kevin Ross	14

^* - Chesnut won a five-dog eat-off in 50 seconds, seven seconds ahead of Kobayashi. The new record is based on the net hot dogs per minute with the new 10-minute format. Both Chestnut and Kobayashi held the official record jointly until it was surpassed the following year.

2007 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (12 minutes) Wednesday July 4, 2007
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut (U.S. Record, World Record)	66
2	Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi (Japanese Record)	63
3	Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti	49
4	Tim “Eater X” Janus	43.5
5	Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (Women's Record)	39
6	"Humble" Bob Shoudt	35
7	Chip Simpson	35
8	Rich LeFevre	31
9	Hall "The Hoover" Hunt	29
10	Juliet Lee	26
11	Dale Boone	25
12	Pat "from Moonachie" Philbin	24
13	Crazy Legs Conti	23.5
14	Erik "The Red" Denmark	23
15	Tim Brown	22.5
16	Arturo Rios, Jr.	21
17	Allen Goldstein	21

2006 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Tuesday July 4, 2006
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi (World Record, Japanese Record)	54
2	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut (U.S. Record)	52
3	Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas (Women's Record)	37
4	Patrick Bertoletti	34¼
5	Tim "Eater X" Janus	34
6	Chip "The Phenom" Simpson	33
7	"Humble" Bob Shoudt	30
8	Rich "The Locust" LeFevre	28
9	Eric "Badlands" Booker	24
10	Patrick "from Moonachie" Philbin	23
11	Erik "The Red" Denmark	22
12	Seaver Miller	22
13	Brian Subich	22
14	Crazy Legs Conti	21⅓
15	Allen Davis	20½
16	Robert Andersson	20
17	Hall "The Hoover" Hunt	19
18	Kamil "The Camel" Hamersky	18
19	Kenji Oguni	16
20	Jed Donahue	1

2005 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Monday July 4, 2005 Preview
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi	49
2	Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas (U.S. Record, Women's Record)	37
3	Joey "Jaws" Chestnut	32
4	Ed "Cookie" Jarvis	29
(tie)	Keiji Oguni	29
6	Rich LeFevre	25½
7	Carlene LeFevre	25
8	Ron Koch	23
9	Tim Janus	22½
10	Eric Booker	22
(tie)	Charles Hardy	22
12	Patrick "Pat From Moonachie" Philbin	20
13	Crazy Legs Conti	19
14	Joe LaRue	18
15	Don Lerman	15
16	Rob Burns	10

2004 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Sunday July 4, 2004 Report
No.	Name	Hot Dogs
1	Takeru Kobayashi (World Record, Japanese Record)	53.5
2	Nobuyuki Shirota	38
3	Sonya Thomas (U.S. Record, Women's Record)	32
4	Rich LeFevre	27.76
5 (tie)	Ed Jarvis/Eric Booker	27
7 (tie)	Ron Koch/Carlene LeFevre	22
9 (tie)	Oleg Zhornitskiy / Jim Reeves	21
11	Joe LaRue	20
12	Allen Goldstein	19
13 (tie)	Charles Hardy/Don Lerman/Dale Boone	18

July 4, 2003

• 1st - Takeru Kobayashi (44½)
• 2nd - Ed "Cookie" Jarvis (30½, American record)
• 3rd - Eric "Badlands" Booker (29)
• 4th - Sonya Thomas (25, women's world record)
• 20 competitors total. Included William "The Refrigerator" Perry (4 hot dogs)
• 3,000 spectators in attendance
• Report

July 4, 2001

• 1st - Takeru Kobayashi (50, world record)
• 2nd - Eric "Badlands" Booker (26)
• 3rd - Oleg Zhornitskiy (25)
• 20 competitors total

July 4, 2000

• 1st - Kazutoyo "The Rabbit" Arai 新井和響 (25⅛, world record)
• 2nd - Misao "Beast" Fujita, 藤田操 (24)
• 3rd - Takako Akasaka 赤阪尊子 (22¼, women's world record)
• 4th - Steve Addicks (21)
• 5th - Charles "Hungry" Hardy (19)
• Also competed- Steve "The Terminator" Keiner, Ed "The Maspeth Monster" Krachie, Dominic "Hot Dog" Vaccaro.

Stand-outs

Gerald Kilcourse

Gerald Kilcourse (April 3, 1931 - November 25, 1983) was a record holding contest champion. In 1950, at the age of 19, Kilcourse competed in that year's competition and won second place. In the following years, Kilcourse went on to win the next nine Nathan's contests, establishing several records in the contest. Most overall wins (nine); most consecutive titles (nine); and the most hotdogs eaten in ten minutes (21 in 1958). This was before the contest was changed to the 12-minute format for a period. (It has since been changed back to ten minutes.)

In the 1960 contest, Kilcourse was disqualified in what some say was a controversial decision. Kilcourse vowed to never compete in the hotdog discipline again and he left competitive eating altogether.

As of 2013, he still holds the record for "most wins" and "most consecutive wins." His high of 21 for "total number of dogs eaten in ten minutes," however, has since been eclipsed.

At the time of his death, Kilcourse was training for a comeback from his self-imposed retirement of over 23 years. He was preparing to compete in a chili spaghetti eating contest (which is commonly believed to be the toughest category in competitive eating.