Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Rocked By Cheating Allegations Involving Husband Of Women’s Champion
This year’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest featured plenty of controversy due to the exclusion of the legendary Joey Chestnut, but things took yet another turn after Nick Wehry was accused of cheating to inflate his total.
At this point, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest is a pretty massive operation that relies on a ton of people to make sure things go smoothly.
That includes the two to three judges who are assigned to each competitive eater to keep track of the number of wieners they’re able to house over the course of 10 minutes (they’re also tasked with looking for any potential “reversals of fortune” (a.k.a. vomiting) that result in disqualification and have the right to hand out yellow cards for “messy eating”).
The absence of Joey Chestnut at the 2024 event meant the competition was going to crown a new champion for the first time in eight years, and when everything was said and done, Patrick Bertoletti walked away with the Mustard Belt after devouring 58 glizzies.
Miki Sudo also won the women’s championship while setting a new record in that division by eating 51 hot dogs on the same day her husband Nick Wehry narrowly edged her out by consuming 51.75 to finish in fourth place in the men’s contest.
However, that second total has been called into question thanks to cheating accusations that have taken the competitive eating world by storm.
According to The New York Post, Wehry was initially credited with eating 46.75 hot dogs when the clock expired only for that number to rise by five when the official results were posted by Major League Eating.
It’s unclear what led to a jump that helped him pass the 50-dog threshold that is considered a point of pride in the competitive eating community, but the outlet spoke to multiple anonymous sources who asserted Wehry was guilty of “plate stealing” to inflate his total (after the competition, judges count the number of plates—which each hold five hot dogs—in front of each competitor to assist with their tabulations).
Video captured in the wake of the contest shows Wehry fiddling with some plates, but there doesn’t appear to be any clear-cut evidence to support those accusations.
Whry firmly denied the claims, saying “I would never cheat at a contest, regardless of why. People that know me know that.” He correctly noted he would’ve still finished in fourth place (which netted him $1,500) regardless of the extra five hot dogs while saying he’d be more than happy to agree to a review of the tape to settle the debate.
Major League Eating also chimed in on the matter with a statement that reads:
“MLE investigated, carefully considering the complaint and reviewing video provided to us. Like many other professional sports leagues, it is our policy to not overturn judges’ decisions after the final results have been recorded.”
As a result, it would appear the matter is settled.
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Connor Toole, Khareem Sudlow
