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"  Betcha you&amp;#039;re grilling up some hot dogs for the Fourth. But are you stuffing as many as you can in your mouth? If you&amp;#039;re one of the competitors in the Nathan&amp;#039;s Famous July 4th International Hot Dog-Eating Contest you are. At the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, the restaurant&amp;#039;s flagship location, competitive eaters squared off this afternoon for the biggest event in the sport&amp;#039;s circuit. The event first began back in 1916 as a sideshow on the boardwalk. Today, nearly a century later, the event is broadcasted to an audience of 1.7 million viewers. The women&amp;#039;s group hit the dogs first at 11:30 a.m. and for the sixth time 45-year-old, the 100-lb. reigning champion Sonya Thomas \u2014 a.k.a. &amp;quot;The Black Widow&amp;quot; \u2014 won. She downed 45 dogs during the 10-minute time period, pacing faster than she had in previous competitions and setting the world record. By minute three she had already consumed 20 hot dogs, while her rival Juliet Lee was behind at a mere 13 franks. In the last 3 minutes Lee closed the gap, but Thomas pulled out in the end, beating her personal best of 41. In 2011, the Korean-born Thomas was crowned the first winner of the women&amp;#039;s division. Previously, the women and men competed against each other. More From Delish: Eat Like a Champ: The World of Competitive Eating The player to beat in the men&amp;#039;s competition, was 28-year-old Joey &amp;quot;Jaws&amp;quot; Chestnut, and he did not disappoint. The now six-time champion tied his personal best of 68 hot dogs (and buns) which he previously set in 2009 when he also established the world record. Just before stepping on the stage Chestnut told ESPN, &amp;quot;The two hardest hot dogs are the first and the last.&amp;quot; He surpassed Thomas&amp;#039;s record of 45 just after the half-way point in the men&amp;#039;s competition. His win this year means he also earned the title of Most Consecutive Nathan&amp;#039;s Wins. More From Delish: Home-Run Hot Dogs: The Best Dogs from America&amp;#039;s Baseball Stadiums With over 40,000 hungry fans watching, 30 &amp;quot;gurgitators&amp;quot; from the U.S. and Canada competed with the temperature soaring near 90 degrees. In addition to being awarded with the mustard belt, winners receive a cash prize of $10,000. How many hot dogs did you eat today? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a38978/chestnut-and-thomas-win-nathans-hot-dog-eating-contest-2012/>