- Title: USA: COMPETITORS WEIGH-IN FOR NATHAN'S 89TH ANNUAL HOT-DOG EATING CONTEST.
- Date: 1st July 2004
- Summary: (U1) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 1, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF NATHAN'S RESTAURANT IN CONEY ISLAND 2. VARIOUS OF HOT DOG CONTEST WEIGH-IN 3. GODFREY BERTELSEN STEPS ON SCALE 4. CROWD VIEWS WEIGH-IN 5. ERIC "BADLANDS" BOOKER STEPS ON SCALE 6. PICTURE OF WORLD CHAMPION HOT DOG EATER TAKERU KOBAYASHI AND AMERICAN EATING CHAMP ERIC "BADLANDS" BOOKER 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOOKER SAYING: "I have to keep pitching. I have to keep, you know, doing my thing, you know, stay hungry and focused in order to try and beat him. It's like, you know, if you want to watch big ships you've got to go to waters deep and I'm like a submarine I've got to go all the way out to where the big dogs are at and Kobayashi is in the middle of the Atlantic, you know, the Pacific." (U1)NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - JULY 1, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 8. VARIOUS OF 2003 NATHAN'S HOT DOG EATING CONTEST (U1)NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JULY 1, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BERTELSEN SAYING: "Last year the one thing I remember was psyching myself up too early get out onto the stage and it's like 104 degrees, 99 percent humidity and I'm like pffft... like this, and I was expecting to go straight out onto stage and start within like five minutes, but there's this 20 minute delay and it's like all of a sudden your brain's starting to fade away, and you're thinking 'all these people around me' and the edge just starts to creep off if you delay and don't get your timings right." 10. EDWARD "COOKIE" JARVIS STEPS ON SCALE 11. NATHAN'S SIGN 12. MASTER OF CEREMONY ANNOUNCES JARVIS' WEIGHT 13. JARVIS'S LIST OF EATING CONTEST WINS PRINTED ON ROBE 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JARVIS SAYING: "The key thing is to be abel to get that many hot dogs down that quick. It's just a pure skill. You know. And to eat 30... no American's ever eaten 30 back to back. So I'd be the first one if I eat 30 plus, then I'd be the first one to eat 30 plus back to back. So that'd be a nice thing as well but I really got to shoot for a bigger number." 15. VARIOUS OF NATHAN'S HOT DOG CHAMPIONSHIP BILLBOARD 16. SONYA THOMAS WEIGHS IN 17. THOMAS HOLDING "25" FROM NATHAN'S BILLBOARD 18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) THOMAS SAYING: "The secret... I don't want to tell the secret. But I'm always, even though my nickname is The Black Widow.. kill the men... I don't care about the male or female.. to kill the people and I'm always thinking about winning. See I don't like to lose. That's only my secret." 19. THOMAS AND JARVIS EAT HOT DOGS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 16th July 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Topics:
- Reuters ID: LVABA8Q0GR0L8PJUYA1SZ3YVQVAQ
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- Story Text: Competitors weigh-in for Nathan's 89th annual hot
dog eating contest.
As Americans prepare for the Fourth of July holiday,
contestants for Nathan's annual hot dog eating contest
prepare themselves for their biggest meal of the year.
Entrants, big and small, weighed-in on Thursday (July
1) to determine their fighting condition for the big
competition.
The stage was inundated with eating talent. From Godfrey
Bertlesen,
the United Kingdom's pickled egg eating
champion, to Eric "Badlands" Booker, the world doughnut
eating champion - these contenders showed off their mighty
talent and stomachs.
But there was one glaring omission from the day's
festivities. Japanese super-eater Takeru "Tsunami"
Kobayashi, last year's hot dog champion, was absent due to
bad weather.
Even though he's not in New York yet, Kobayashi is
still feared by his opponents. In order for anyone beat
him, this Godzilla will have to have a bad day. At least
that was the buzz in this crowd. "I have to keep
pitching," said Booker. "I have to keep, you know, doing
my thing, you know, stay hungry and focused in order to try
and beat him. It's like, you know, if you want to watch
big ships you've got to go to waters deep and I'm like a
submarine. I've got to go all the way out to where the big
dogs are at and Kobayashi is in the middle of the Atlantic,
you know, the Pacific."
At only 132 pounds (59.9 kilograms), Kobayashi has won
the contest for the last three years in a row. He holds the
world record of 50.5 hot dogs in twelve minutes. American
eaters have only managed to down 30 in the same time.
Most contestants say the contest is mind over matter
and there's more to it than having a big appetite. "Last
year the one thing I remember was psyching myself up too
early," said United Kingdom champ Godfrey Bertelsen. "I get
out onto the stage and it's like 104 degrees, 99 percent
humidity and I'm like pffft... like this, and I was
expecting to go straight out onto stage and start within
like five minutes, but there's this 20 minute delay and
it's like all of a sudden your brain's starting to fade
away, and you're thinking 'all these people around me' and
the edge just starts to creep off if you delay and don't
get your timings right."
"The key thing is to be able to get that many hot dogs
down that quick. It's just a pure skill," according to
American eater Cookie Jarvis. "You know. And to eat 30...
no American's ever eaten 30 back to back, so I'd be the
first one if I eat 30 plus, then I'd be the first one to
eat 30 plus back to back. So that'd be a nice thing as
well but I really got to shoot for a bigger number.
Just as shocking as Kobayashi's ability to down 50 dogs
is American Sonya Thomas. The 5 foot (1.5 metre), 98 pound
(44.45 kilograms) minnie has eaten 26 of Nathan's
delicacies in one sitting. No one knows how she does it,
and she's not telling. "The secret... I don't want to tell
the secret. But I'm always, even though my nickname is The
Black Widow.. kill the men... I don't care about the male
or female.. to kill the people and I'm always thinking
about winning. See I don't like to lose. That's only my
secret."
Nathan's hot dog eating contest was first held in 1916.
The event has grown dramatically over the years. Last year
the event drew a crowd of 3,000 fans. This year, organisers
have even booked the event on national television in the
United States.
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