Tucson math teacher Michelle βCardboard Shellβ Lesco is competing in her 13th Nathanβs Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York City on Thursday, July 4.
Lesco is ranked the worldβs No. 10 eater by Major League Eating.
She will try to come back from her third-place finish at last yearβs competition, where she downed 24.25 hot dogs. In 2021, she finished first after eating 30.75 hot dogs.
But this yearβs competition could be a challenge after recent dental work.
βIf I hit 30 with my half-done dental work, it would be awesome,β she said Tuesday, hours after flying to New York from Tucson. βI think ability-wise itβs not out of the question. But β¦ if I eat less than 25 Iβm going to be a little upset.β
Lesco said she recently did a few 15-dog trial runs in Tucson to develop a technique to navigate the dental work. At the end of it, she was able to cut her time by two minutes.
She is one of 14 women competing in the contest, which dates back to 1916, and 15 men, each hoping to take home the $10,000 first-place prize.
All told, the contest awards $20,000 in prizes in the menβs and womenβs contests, with cash prizes going to first- through fifth-place finishers.
The 107-pound Lesco entered the competitive eating arena in 2011 and has competed in contests ranging from chicken wings (152 wings in 10 minutes in the 2013 Hooters of Cincinnati World Wing-Eating Championship), oysters (227 and a first place finish in the 2016 Turkish Airlines World Oyster Eating Championship in Ireland) and mayo (set a Guinness World Record in 2018 when she downed 86.35 ounces of mayo β three jars β in three minutes).
Lescoβs competition pregame includes eating fruits, fiber and vegetables in the days before the contest to clear out her stomach. She also does cardio to build endurance.
βYou want to be in shape and you want to have some endurance,β she explained. βItβs a marathon when youβre out there. You get five minutes in and youβre exhausted. Cardio helps with the breathing throughout.β
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Speed eating queen Michelle Lesco earned two Guinness World Record titles in Las Vegas. The fastest time to eat a hot dog with no hands, in 21.60 seconds and the Most mayonnaise eaten in three minutes with 2,448 g (86.35 oz).
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Miki Sudo, of Tampa, Florida, holds the womenβs record of 48.5 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Miki won her ninth title at the Nathanβs Famous contest last year with 39.5 hot dogs and buns eaten, the Associated Press reported.
On the menβs side of the completion, the field has shifted this year as Joey βJawsβ Chestnut, the reigning champion of the contest, will not participate in Thursdayβs event after signing a deal with a rival brand.
Instead, Chestnut will take his hot dog-downing talents to an army base in Texas for Americaβs Independence Day. Chestnut, of Indiana, will compete against soldiers in Fort Bliss, in El Paso, in a 5-minute hot dog eating contest. In 2021, Chestnut set the current record of 76 hot dogs, in 10 minutes, according to AP.
