What’s better than indulging in one delicious hot dog?
How about relishing in 18 flavourful franks?
That's how many speed-eating couple Miki Sudo and Nicholas Wehry scarfed down on 22 October 2022 at their Tampa, Florida, USA, home.
In just one minute, Miki devoured six coneys, beating the previous record of three and becoming the record holder for the most hot dogs eaten in one minute.
With a mark to beat of nine hot dogs, her counterpart Nicholas crushed the record for the most hot dogs eaten in three minutes after gulping down an astonishing 12 wieners.
However, the gustatory athletes aren't new to competitive eating.
In fact, it was through their love for the sport that their story began.
The couple, who are now married and have a child together, met at a hotel gym four years ago before participating in the 2018 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, and it was love at first bite.
“We actually met at the gym on the morning of the largest eating contest on our circuit," said Miki.
“I just thought I’d be polite, and I went over and introduced myself."
Since then, Miki has earned record titles for the most hot dogs eaten at a Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (female) after biting into 48.5 frankfurters and the most wins of a Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest (female), winning a staggering seven consecutive competitions since 2014.
But how does the legendary hot dog-destroying duo power through so many sausages, buns and all?
"We have two completely different styles," said Nicholas.
"She’s more talent, where I’m the try [my luck], and she has more rhythm, where I’m the violence."
Chewing techniques aside, Nicholas has also cooked up a little-known trick to beef up his game.
"Eating them competitively is a little bit different than eating them for Guinness World Records," admitted Nicholas.
"Eat the hot dog down, while I’m doing that fold this [the bun] in half, dunk it, and remember…the bun is a drink. The bun is not food, it is a drink to chase your hot dog."
With an appetite for winning, Nicholas also attempted record titles for the most ice cream eaten in a minute and the fastest time to eat a 12” pizza with the hands, but both efforts proved to be more than he could chew, literally!
"The hardest record today was probably the 12-inch pizza," said Nicholas.
Miki, on the other hand, proved that her speed-eating skills remain unmatched as she downed an entire burrito in an outrageous 31.47 seconds, breaking the previous standing record by just 0.88 seconds and becoming the newest title holder for the fastest time to eat a burrito.
But will the reigning champs ever take a bite out of one another’s competition?
"We’re ranked third and fourth in the world and at any given contest, we might beat each other by a fraction of an ounce." - Miki Sudo
"We want to beat each other, whether we verbalize it or not, which most of the time we do," continued Nicholas.
While Miki is proud to have collected multiple championship belts during her competitive-eating endeavours, she says her greatest accomplishment has been meeting the love of her life and birthing their son, Max.
Nicholas couldn’t agree more, adding that while their son is the best thing to come out of speed-eating, there are some additional record titles he’d like to chow down on.
"If there was a cookie dough record, I think I’d want to set that because cookie dough is probably my favourite food," said Nicholas.
"Or maybe the most food ever eaten with a screaming child right next to you. If there was that record, I’m going to dominate it, I can tell you that right now."
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