The 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition crowned its 2024 champions on Thursday at legendary Coney Island. Patrick Bertoletti, a first-time winner of the Mustard Belt, took the men’s event, while Miki Sudo won the women’s competition for the 10th time.
The absence of 16-time champion Joey Chestnut soured this year’s contest. He was barred from the event due to his lucrative endorsement deal with Nathan’s competitor Impossible Foods. But there are plenty of other reasons to be down on an outdated event that might already be past its prime.
According to a 2023 article from Jim Sergent of USA Today, Nathan’s prepares 1,000 hot dogs for the men’s contest and another 325 for the women’s event. That’s 1,325 in total, all either left uneaten, undigested or later discarded the hard way.
Nathan’s claims to sell roughly 10,000 hot dogs at its annual July 4 event while also donating 100,000 to local food banks. However, it’s not hard to see the possible issues that can come from glorifying gluttonous behavior.
Despite Nathan’s charitable donations, the competition is a horrendous waste of food, especially as the cost of groceries continues to soar in the U.S. With summer finally here, hot dog prices alone have risen 7.1 percent over the year, per Danielle Wiener-Bronner of CNN.
Meanwhile, the event’s competitors may also face uncertain health concerns related to the contest. On top of the unknown impacts on the body itself, many successful competitive eaters suffer to live a normal life.
Six-time Nathan’s champion Takeru Kobayashi recently retired from the sport, saying through his wife that his body felt “broken” following years of fasting, overeating and purging. The latter is an essential part of the sport, according to another former competitive eater, Tim Janus, who has also walked away from the table over fears of future issues.
“Your stomach is too full to move things along,” Janus told Matt Fuchs of Time. “Throwing up after the contest is a necessary part of the sport.”
No one is trying to be the fun police here. But, over what’s a long holiday weekend for most, there has to be a better way to spend it than watching glorified “athletes” shovel food down their gullets.
Traditions, for the most part, are an excellent way to spend a day like July 4. But, in 2024, it might finally be time to leave contests like Nathan’s in the dust.