With the Nathan's July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest being split into two events—one for men, one for women—this year, everyone is excited for the Coney Island showdown. But today's news that toilet paper is scarce at city parks including at the boardwalk makes us wonder if Takeru Kobayashi was smart to, um, have a spat with Major League Eating and have his own little hot dog eating contest at a Manhattan bar.
Favorite Joey Chestnut, four-time champ, is looking for his fifth consecutive victory. Last year, he ate 54 hot dogs for the win (but claimed 70 hot dogs was within sight!). Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas is the favorite for the women's competition—she's the #5 eater in the world and among her crowns are the oyster championship (46 dozen oysters in 10 minutes) and U.S. Buffalo Wing Eating Championship (4.86 lbs in 12 minutes, defeating Joey Chestnut!).
The Women's Championship will be held at 11:30 a.m., and the Men's will be held at 12 p.m. The event will be aired live on ESPN beginning at 12, and ESPN3 (which cares more about the fairer sex, apparently) will begin coverage at 11:30 a.m. If you're at Coney Island, you can share your photos with us by tagging them "gothamist" on Flickr or sending them to [email protected].
