Wolfing down huge portions of food isn’t quite a constitutional imperative, but by God is it as American as a bald eagle winning a slam dunk competition whilst saluting the stars and stripes.
The Land of the Free is known elsewhere in the world for a maximalist approach to portion sizes that the denizens of other countries can scarcely tackle in one sitting, and this penchant for inhaling vast quantities of food is best exemplified by the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Held on the 4th of July each year, thousands of Americans celebrate the birth of the nation by watching brave souls attempt to eat as many hot dogs – buns included – within a meagre 10-minute window.
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None have given more to the sport than Joey Chestnut, a hot dog athlete who landed his 17th title in the 2025 edition by eating 70.5 hot dogs, 5.5 short of the 76 he nailed in 2021.
His opposite number in the women’s division, Miki Sudo, won her 11th title on the same day.
Unfortunately for Madison Barone, another female contestant, the day ended with disqualification as her body reacted to the ordeal in the only reasonable fashion.
"Ms. Barone experienced urges contrary to swallowing after the contest but before the conclusion of presentations and the awarding of places," said Sam Barclay, director of operations at Major League Eating, in a statement made to USA Today.
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‘Urges contrary to swallowing’ of course mean vomiting, but that’s not a word you’re allowed to use if you’re close to the Hot Dog Eating Contest. It’s a bit like calling Macbeth by its name, or playing fast and loose with ‘Voldemort’. You just don’t want to tempt fate.
Barone has since spoken out about her experience.
“As soon as I got off the stage, everything came up, it wasn't even like I was sick,” she told USA Today.
“It was more of force. It was more of my body just letting it go.”
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While Barone had wolfed down a creditable number of hot dogs, the rules state that you must keep them down until the awards ceremony is over.
Though Barone has finished her quantity of hot dogs, she didn’t keep them down long enough for the announcements to reveal the finalists, which is against the guidelines of participating.
Barclay continued: "By Major League Eating rules, urges contrary to swallowing before the conclusion of the event, including presentations and the awarding of prizes, results in a DQ."
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This was Barone’s debut in the competition, and it seems her vomiting episode hasn’t entirely written off a future entry.
“If I do [return], it's going to be the biggest comeback ever,” she said.
Rachael Davis