UPDATE: Because of the inclement weather, the 2023 men’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest was canceled, per ABC7 in New York. However, not long after the reported cancellation, ESPN announced that the contest was back on after a lengthy delay.
In the midst of a pandemic and the live sports desert that followed, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest offered a glimmer of hope. The Fourth of July staple, broadcast annually from Coney Island, shifted indoors for a socially distanced version of the competition as COVID-19 changed lives across the world.
Joey Chestnut did what Joey Chestnut does, eating a truly ludicrous amount of pork and bread and celebrating America in an extremely American way.
But on Tuesday three years later, the weather in New York did what a global pandemic could not: It canceled the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, which won’t be held on Independence Day for the first time since 1978. In the end, Mother Nature won.
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#BreakingNews The men's contest at the Nathan's hot dog eating competition CANCELED due to weather https://t.co/OsXRh2QQsO
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) July 4, 2023
While the cancellation doesn’t leave much competitive intrigue — Chestnut has effectively lapped his rivals in general and Miki Sudo claimed the women’s belt minutes before the weather stoppage — it’s still a bummer. Across the country, a pre-cookout tradition involves watching dedicated men and women house hot dogs, watching 15 minutes of pro cornhole or slippery stairs or whatever else ESPN2 has planned for the day and then heading out to celebrate the nation with friends and family.
In 2023, raging thunderstorms instead forced the world to watch the ESPYs nomination show; the network’s answer to, “Is there anything more pointless and boring than the ESPYs?” After an hour-long delay, the New York Police Department reportedly pulled the plug on the event in the name of public safety.
Here is a video of people standing on table tops on Coney Island to escape the torrential rain and gathering pools of water that have totally derailed the Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest pic.twitter.com/8TEbC8DLYz
— Liam Stack (@liamstack) July 4, 2023
So, in summation, dang. The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has woven itself into the fabric of the Fourth of July. It’s an entertaining rest stop on a day-long journey of cookouts, pool time and fireworks. But nature cut a four-decade tradition off with torrential downpours and lightning that made the whole event even more of a safety hazard than it already was (for contestants, at least).
On the plus side, we know when the next contest will be; 366 days from now.
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