We followed the No. 1 ranked female eater, Miki Sudo, and her husband, Nick Wehry, as they trained for one of the last MLE contests of 2024 — the Norms hotcake eating championship in Las Vegas. Over the past three decades, competitive eating in America has evolved from a casual hobby into an increasingly ambitious sport. These athletes train their bodies like machines, crafting every meal and strategizing every bite to beat the competition. Major League Eating, the sport’s governing body, works with sponsors to host about 70 contests annually, with up to five figures in prize money.
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00So I always forget if I want my drinks on my right or my left.
00:06I'm realizing it's going to take two hands.
00:08I'm going to have to take my hand off my cup of water, which it sounds like what's a big
00:13deal, but when you're in the middle of a contest, every time you pick up or you put down your
00:17water, you have to make sure it doesn't fall over and it's a waste of effort.
00:21In 2024, Mickey Sudo set the women's record of 51 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes at the
00:27Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
00:32Joey Chestnut holds the all-time Nathan's record at 76.
00:40It's one of over 70 sanctioned events run by Major League Eating, and thousands of fans
00:45gather to witness the spectacle.
00:48But make no mistake, for competitive eaters, this is no game.
00:53For a shot at winning, these athletes train their bodies like machines and plan every
00:58bite to compete in a fierce battle against time, appetites, and their competitors.
01:05But how healthy is it to do this for a living?
01:07And what's behind our fascination with extreme eating?
01:17Mickey is well known in the Major League Eating world.
01:20She's the top-ranked female in the league and number 5 overall.
01:24Her husband Nick Weary follows right behind her at number 6.
01:31Nick and Mickey are at their home in Florida, getting ready to practice for a new challenge,
01:36the Norm's Hotcake Eating Contest.
01:39Norm's Hotcakes is one of the last events of the year, and the prize purse is $10,000.
01:46It's uncharted territory, as neither has competed with hotcakes before, and they've fine-tuned
01:51every detail of their training for success.
01:54As far as I'm concerned, this is completely a capacity contest.
01:58Who has enough room to keep eating for 10 minutes, or who has the most room to consume
02:03the most food?
02:04You need to find what plays to your strengths, and in my case, being more analytical and
02:09really studying my techniques and studying the food is what's helpful.
02:14Other people learn better by just doing and mimicking contest conditions and going about
02:19that way.
02:20Now I'm going to zone out, put a little music on.
02:253, 2, 1, go!
02:29Alright, come on.
02:32Let's go, babe.
02:33You're making great time.
02:34Work them down.
02:39These look fluffy.
02:40I always forget if I want my drinks on my right or my left, so do I want to fold them?
02:44Do I want to roll them?
02:45Do I want to rip them?
02:51Coming up on two minutes.
02:53Two minutes.
02:58Don't slow down, don't slow down.
03:00You got this.
03:02I think because I'm going to have to manipulate them more, I think it makes more sense to
03:08have a drink in my left hand and for me to work with my right, because I'm right-handed.
03:12Just a plate a minute, you got this.
03:17It's competitive eating, not competitive prettiness.
03:20When you start eating your own hair, that's very distracting too.
03:23I am so tempted to use both my hands and do this this way, but I know that water is going
03:28to be essential, so I almost want to figure out a strategy where I can do it with one hand.
03:35So I've already used a pint of liquid for 11 pancakes.
03:41That's not a good ratio.
03:4390 seconds.
03:45If you just stuff one at the end, you can clear everything right there.
03:48One, two, three, four.
03:50Moisten the pancake on my first bite.
03:52Bite, bite, bite.
03:54So four bites, and then the next time I move my teeth forward, I just swallow.
03:58Five, four, three, two, one.
04:04Good job.
04:08Good job.
04:13You went through a lot of liquid.
04:15I feel like that's going to be the hard part, because you need the liquid for them to go down fast,
04:20but you're going to triple the weight.
04:22I think they'll be a little less chewy than the ones from Norm's,
04:30because of the restaurant quality.
04:32They're not box made in bulk, over-stirred quality.
04:36It kind of hurts to laugh.
04:38So while my practice, I guess, looks a little different,
04:41I got some really important takeaways from this little session.
04:45One, my approach is going to be to fold them going into the contest.
04:50Two, I'm going to need as hot water as possible.
04:54Three, I'm not going to forget to dance out those air pockets.
04:59In the world of major league eating, dancing out the air pockets is crucial
05:03for settling food in the stomach, so they can keep eating.
05:06Now, Miki's tics, I would say, the one that everyone notices,
05:10is she turns her mouth to the side, and everyone thinks she's wiping her mouth.
05:14And it does look like that, because usually it'll be sweats.
05:17There was this one girl who just started turning her head to the right,
05:20because she thought that was the winning way to go.
05:22And it's not something that I do intentionally.
05:24It's not a technique that I do for any particular reason
05:28other than that's what my body's response is.
05:30And Nick's tics.
05:32Yeah, now he just does his little shimmy.
05:34I don't know, he grunts and he does this air pocket pushing out thing.
05:40I don't know. It looks something like that.
05:43It's not just Miki and Nick.
05:45Many top eaters have their own unique ways of tricking their bodies
05:48into pushing the limit.
05:50Matt Stonie jumps up and down.
05:53Joey Chestnut throws his head back.
05:55One of the most iconic moves is the Kobayashi Shake.
05:59Named after the retired major league eater, Takeru Kobayashi,
06:02the godfather of competitive eating.
06:04During competitions, Kobayashi would wiggle his body
06:08to force food down his esophagus and pack it into his stomach.
06:12Some gastroenterologists think there may be some science behind these movements.
06:17Competitive eaters stand upright to avoid compressing their stomachs
06:21during contests.
06:23As they eat quickly, food fills the esophagus, creating a bottleneck.
06:27To speed things up, some jump up and down,
06:30using gravity to help food move into the stomach.
06:34This upright position also allows the stomach to expand to its maximum capacity.
06:41Working out those stomach air pockets isn't the only challenge
06:44competitive eaters face.
06:46They also deal with brain freeze from ice cream,
06:49burning sensation from spicy foods,
06:51or flavor fatigue when they're on their 20th hotcake.
06:54When we get to minutes 7, 8, and 9, and you're scared,
06:58or you're nervous, or your body's maybe telling you no,
07:00how do you master the ability to tell your body,
07:02like, I don't care how you feel, what matters is the objective at hand.
07:06All of this preparation and training would be nothing without an audience.
07:10Take the Nathan's Hot Dog competition, for example.
07:1440,000 people flock to Coney Island every 4th of July
07:19to watch the sports Super Bowl.
07:23So what is it that fascinates us about a spectacle like this in the first place?
07:28Part of it could be that there's something primal
07:30about watching someone take on a modern-day gladiator match.
07:34It's human endeavor. I know what it means to eat a hot dog,
07:38but to watch Joey Chestnut eat 76 of them is pretty stunning.
07:41That's Richard Shea, the president and co-founder of Major League Eating.
07:46He and his brother George are responsible for turning competitive eating in America
07:50into a business that reaches millions of people every year.
07:54And they've mastered another way to keep us watching.
07:57They've turned competitive eating into pageantry at its purest.
08:01Every contest is engineered for maximum entertainment.
08:05While we take our sport very seriously,
08:07we do layer in a little bit of ballyhoo,
08:09and that sort of is from the Coney Island days,
08:11and that's sort of the carnival barker with the straw hat.
08:13We literally put on the straw hat, and we literally bark sometimes.
08:16Let the contest begin!
08:20And then the very famous, bejeweled, mustard yellow,
08:24Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Championship belt,
08:27which I feel a little sacrilegious holding this
08:31since I haven't earned that right.
08:33Mickey Suto, the female champ, and Sonya Thomas have had similar belts.
08:36Those are pink.
08:38In 2011, the league added a women's division to the Nathan's contest,
08:43and Sonya won.
08:45Her success marked a turning point for women in the sport.
08:47Mickey Suto is clearly the most decorated female leader of all time.
08:51She might stand on the shoulders of Sonya and would probably say so.
08:55But Mickey's gone on to just compete across discipline,
08:58beat men routinely.
09:00Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is the only event
09:03at which men and women compete separately.
09:05And I think that's cool to a degree,
09:07because it gives some women the platform
09:11that they definitely wouldn't receive otherwise.
09:13But even then, I compare my numbers to how the guys do.
09:17One of those guys is Patrick Bertoletti.
09:19He's over 1,000 miles away,
09:21gearing up for the Norm's Hot Cake Contest.
09:24I think for me, going into this contest,
09:26my goal is anywhere between 8 and 10 pounds of pancakes in 10 minutes.
09:30Normal training for me is just drinking a sizable amount of water,
09:35just to keep my stomach stretched out,
09:37and practicing with the food.
09:39So this competition, Norm's Hot Cakes coming up,
09:42I've been eating pancakes like two or three times a week.
09:45And then you just have to really work on getting your stomach stretched out.
09:50Many eaters believe that the stomach stretching he's talking about
09:53contributes to winning when practiced consistently over time.
09:57In a 2007 study on the gastroenterology of a competitive eater,
10:02researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found
10:05that eaters can slowly adapt the stomach
10:07so that it can expand and dilate to a remarkable degree.
10:10These images show a competitive eater's stomach
10:13before and after eating 36 hot dogs.
10:16While expanding the stomach over time is important,
10:19many eaters fast right before contests
10:22to help prepare their body for greater capacity.
10:25But some critics worry about the possible
10:28long-term health impacts of these strategies.
10:30I think there's a difference between fasting and starving yourself.
10:33So I don't go from eating my large kale salads
10:36to nothing at all.
10:38I taper down the quantity
10:40and I start incorporating more of a liquid diet.
10:46Today is Thursday, November 7th.
10:49This is kind of where I start cutting out meals that take longer to digest.
10:53Today I made myself a big bowl of pho for lunch.
10:58Very, very cognizant of how much fluid I'm taking in.
11:01So I remain full, but so that my digestive tract is more empty.
11:06I understand how people might think that this would be unhealthy,
11:10but I'd like them to understand that
11:13what you see on stage for 10 minutes
11:15is just 10 minutes of a whole week of a balanced diet
11:20and a workout plan and a disciplined lifestyle.
11:26It's just past midnight.
11:28I'm having fun on an island in Las Vegas.
11:30We're going to head to our hotel,
11:32get a couple hours of sleep before the big day.
11:38Alright, it's the morning of.
11:39Had some coffee.
11:41Broke some of the keto break off in there.
11:43Took a small bite of it.
11:45Some fats, electrolytes, protein, small amount of carbohydrates.
11:49Morning!
11:50Miki's getting ready.
11:51Her version of coffee is an hour of makeup.
11:55Whoever eats the most in 10 minutes will be declared the winner, ladies and gentlemen.
12:02It is not rocket science.
12:04What is at stake?
12:06Why do we do this?
12:08There are only two reasons we get out of bed at Major League Eating, ladies and gentlemen.
12:13Those things are money, and what a glory, ladies and gentlemen.
12:18The $10,000 total prize purse is broken down between first and fifth place.
12:23I think today at Norm's I have a pretty good shot to win,
12:26but I always feel nervous before these contests and I never have the most confidence.
12:30But that's a good way to go and do it.
12:32I'm not cocky by any stretch.
12:34But I think I got as good of a shot as anybody else to win today.
12:37You will help me count it down in the time-honored tradition.
12:415, 4, 3, 2, 1, let's eat!
12:46$10,000 on the line here today. $5,000 to first place.
12:57So right off the bat I realized that they were thicker and more airy than I had expected.
13:01The strategy was just keep the food moving like a conveyor belt
13:04and try to eat more than everybody else.
13:06My technique going in was just lots of water, that's what I did.
13:09I think I probably took in about a gallon and a half of water.
13:16So I couldn't roll them like I wanted to.
13:18I did fold them, but I ended up with this huge club sandwich stack of hotcakes.
13:23I wasn't able to eat them in five bites and swallow like I had practiced.
13:30The hotcakes were delicious, they were fast.
13:32I was definitely in the flow mode, in the zone.
13:35That's a goal and he gets locked into a rhythm.
13:38He is locked into a rhythm, he is one with the hotcake.
13:41About halfway through I slowed down a little bit.
13:44Towards the end I realized I had more space and I pushed it.
13:47I had to use more water.
13:49So instead of taking a sip, eating the hotcake and washing it down with a sip,
13:53I had to drink water while eating the hotcake.
13:56So I think I used twice as much water as I had expected.
13:59It was probably around the 8th minute mark when I started to get full.
14:01I had those air pockets that I just couldn't squeeze out.
14:03That's when you saw me turn to my side a lot.
14:06Trying to make some extra room and compact the food.
14:10It's not a good feeling when in the last few minutes you're just kind of waiting out the clock.
14:14Because I know that other people are just continuing to eat.
14:1610, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Put down the hat!
14:30After 10 grueling minutes and a world record setting 46 hotcakes,
14:35Patrick Deep Dish Bertoletti took first place in the Norm's Hotcake Eating Contest.
14:40This is what I came here to do and it just feels good when it all works.
14:43You know, I'm not necessarily full.
14:45I don't want any more pancakes. Maybe ice cream or something later.
14:48I think I'm taking home 5 grand and a belt.
14:50The belt is the key. The belt is extra motivation.
14:53I love a good wrestling belt.
14:55Jeff Esper and James Webb were right behind him with 44 and 41 hotcakes respectively.
15:01Mickey finished with 36 and a half hotcakes.
15:04And Nick came in 5th with 35 and a quarter hotcakes.
15:08Not thrilled because I got 5th.
15:10But nobody's actually really happy about the results except for the guy that wins.
15:13If we're being honest about it, I'm not here for a participation trophy.
15:16I'm here to win.
15:18You lick your wounds and you get ready for next time.
15:20I knew I wasn't going to beat Pat, Jeff, or James.
15:24They're very formidable opponents when it comes to difficult to eat foods.
15:28Foods that don't swallow quickly.
15:31I'm much better at things like ice cream, cream of rice, yogurt.
15:37Those are things I hold world records in.
15:39This isn't really a rhythm food, so it's not necessarily playing into her strengths.
15:43But I think she did great.
15:45For someone who only did half of one practice,
15:47comparatively I did four and she still kicked my a**.
15:50I know Nick's not happy with his results.
15:52He's not happy unless he's walking home with a belt, a trophy, or the first place check.
15:56After the contest, eaters need to let their digestion reset.
16:00Recover their muscles and drink fluid to avoid dehydration.
16:05And because some eaters strategically stretch their stomachs and fast before contests,
16:10recovery becomes extra important.
16:12These two training methods are some of the more controversial parts of competitive eating in relation to health.
16:18We were concerned when we looked originally at our one speed eater and our one control
16:23that there might be a concern about developing this ability to accept all this food into your stomach
16:30and stretch out your stomach to such a degree that it can fail.
16:33The stomach of the speed eater is inherently able to get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger
16:39without raising the pressure and telling the brain,
16:43my God, I'm about to vomit.
16:45The long-term effects are not really easy to determine.
16:48So to sort of glorify overeating, I think from a societal perspective, is not such a great idea.
16:54You know, it's not in itself a dangerous effort.
17:00The research on health and competitive eating is still limited.
17:04And with such a tight-knit community of competitors and fans,
17:07few in this world have spoken out against the sport.
17:10But in recent years, there has been some degree of dissent.
17:13In 2016, Tim Janis, a former competitor known as EaterX,
17:18quit the sport after 11 years out of an abundance of caution
17:22based on the findings about potential health risks.
17:25In an interview with Time, Janis said he chose to retire
17:29because he didn't want to continue and realized he'd made a mistake.
17:33In 2024, six-time Nathans champion Kobayashi announced his retirement from competing.
17:39He's calling it quits because he's lost his appetite.
17:42Kobayashi retired after doctors discovered that his brain now reacts with nausea to highly processed foods.
17:47He retired because he said he, like, could never feel full anymore.
17:51He's like, yo, this is messing up my stomach. I can't, I can't do this.
17:55Kobayashi declined to participate in this story.
17:58But in an interview with People, he said he wonders what damage he's done to his body since he started this career.
18:04And he wants to know how it's damaging his brain and nervous system.
18:08Despite these risks, many competitive eaters justify the training as a form of physical conditioning,
18:14similar to training for other extreme sports.
18:17I don't condone eating 60 hot dogs at a time. I don't think it's a good idea.
18:22If I don't drink and I don't smoke and I exercise five to seven days a week,
18:27my body composition is better than 99% of the general population.
18:30What I'm saying is we all, we all pick our poison.
18:34My poison is eating unnecessary amounts of spam or fudge for six to 12 minutes at a time.
18:40Like any organized professional sport, competitive eating involves some degree of risk.
18:45And over time, Major League Eating has enacted protections of its own.
18:50So when you're at an eating competition run by Major League Eating, there are EMTs on hand.
18:55And safety is a primary concern of ours, and we've had a great track record there.
18:59Yet with any risk comes the potential for reward.
19:03And in Major League Eating, new and seasoned competitors alike strive to eat their way into earning a decent living.
19:10I mean, competitive eating, there's not a ton of money in it. There is some prize money,
19:13but the real money is in like social media.
19:16So all the really smart, savvy eaters like James Webb, Jeff Esper, Mickey and Nick,
19:21they all do social media, and that's where you can make the real money.
19:24So competitive eating was my full-time job for essentially close to 10 years.
19:29I only decided to go back into the real job market when Nick and I decided to start a family.
19:36And I said to myself, I'm not sure what that retirement plan looks like, eating hot dogs.
19:40Nick and Mickey are returning home with $1,250 in winnings.
19:46The real work begins here, getting back to healthy routines before the next big challenge.
19:53We just got to the airport and we're headed to our gate.
19:57After all those hot cakes, we thought it would be a good idea to get some cardio, work off some of these calories.
20:03So we're taking the stairs instead of the escalator.
20:06Almost there.
20:08Great contest, great turnout. Now just to take a light flight home.
20:14And of course, return to their other full-time job, as parents.
20:19Well, Max is too young to understand anything, but he enjoys the festivals.
20:24He likes when I, you know, basically Rafiki him, like the Lion King,
20:29because that gets the biggest ovation over everything.
20:32What do you have, buddy?
20:34A pancake.
20:35Yummy?
20:36I'm going slow.
20:38I'm going slow? That's the way to enjoy food, huh?
20:47What do you think?
20:48Yummy.
20:49Did Daddy make good pancakes?
20:51Yes.