Miki Sudo wins women's Nathan's hot dog eating contest

Competitive eater Miki Sudo eats a hot dog during the 2023 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest in the Coney Island section of the Brooklyn borough of New York, July 4, 2023. The annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest will see a slate of competitive eaters wolf down as many franks as they can in New York City on Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File) Credit - AP

Dental hygiene student Miki Sudo of Florida has won her 10th women’s title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest.

On Thursday, Sudo consumed 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes and set a new world record for women.

The 38-year-old defending champion last year won after eating 39 1/2 hot dogs, while her personal best is 48 1/2, the women’s world record.

She defeated 14 competitors from around the world, including 28-year-old rival rival Mayoi Ebihara of Japan. Ebihara came in second after eating 37 hot dogs in 10 minutes. She was also the runner-up in 2023.

Competitors have come from over a dozen states and five continents, with prospects from Brazil, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia and the Czech Republic vying for the coveted title in men's and women's divisions and $10,000 prize money.

Thousands of fans flock each year to the event held outside the original Nathan’s location in Brooklyn's Coney Island, a beachfront destination with amusement parks and a carnivalesque summer culture. ESPN broadcasts the contest live, kicking off with the women’s division at 11 a.m. ET, while the men’s will begin at approximately 12:20 p.m.

Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who won 16 out of the previous 17 contests, did not attend the competition over a sponsorship tiff. Instead, he'll compete against soldiers at a U.S. Army base in El Paso later in the day.

“There's going to be a new champion,” Australian James Webb, who holds a world record for eating 70 doughnuts in eight minutes, said at a preview event in New York on Wednesday.

Last year Chestnut, of Indiana, chewed his way to the title by downing 62 dogs and buns in 10 minutes. The record, which he set in 2021, is 76.

Ahead of the event, ESPN said it would focus on two Americans with dedicated camera shots: Massachusetts high school teacher Geoffrey Esper in the men’s division, and Sudo in the women’s.

Esper came second last year with 49 dogs and buns, though his personal best is 51.

Contact us at letters@time.com.