How competitive eating actually works

We followed the No. 1 ranked female eater, Miki Sudo, and her husband, Nick Wehry, as they trained for one of the last MLE contests of 2024 — the Norms hotcake eating championship in Las Vegas. Over the past three decades, competitive eating in America has evolved from a casual hobby into an increasingly ambitious sport. These athletes train their bodies like machines, crafting every meal and strategizing every bite to beat the competition. Major League Eating, the sport’s governing body, works with sponsors to host about 70 contests annually, with up to five figures in prize money.