Nathan's Adds Women's Division to Hot Dog Contest
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: April 22, 2011

Each July 4th, thousands of people descend on Coney Island in New York to watch people eat enormous quantities of Nathan's Famous hot dogs. ESPN covers the event live. The world record is currently held by Joey Chestnut, who consumed an incredible 68 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Well, now the women will have their own contest to compete. Wayne Norbitz, president and COO of Nathan's Famous, said the company had been noticing an increasing number of women entering the qualifying rounds in hopes of competing with the men.
“We surely have had some impressive female eaters compete on July 4th, so we’re introducing this new round to give female competitors the notoriety they deserve," he said in a statement.
The female portion of the competition will occur immediately prior to the male section. To compete, men and women have to win at 12 qualifying competitions throughout the country. An early favorite among the women has emerged. Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas is ranked number 4 by Major League Eating and has consumed 41 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
Nathan's Famous, which by the way is publicly traded if you want to invest, has held the competition every year since its founding in 1916.
Photo by Hello Turkey Toe