Coney Island, in New York City, on Thursday, July 4. It was a little after 5 pm when Miki Sudo finally took to the stage at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, in a fairground setting. The 38-year-old sported a long ponytail impeccably fixed to the top of her head with a ribbon in the colors of the American flag. She was wearing shorts and a sports shirt featuring the Nathan's mascot: a red and blue sausage in the likeness of Uncle Sam.

Independence Day is celebrated in the United States on this day, and as in every year since 1972, the famous fast-food chain has organized a competition of a very special kind. More than 100 participants from all over the world were divided into various categories. To win the title of champion, the rule was simple: Gobble up as many sausage-filled buns as possible in the allotted time.

With a smile on her face, Sudo strode toward the crowd who had come out in force to support her. The cameras of ESPN, the leading American sports network, which was broadcasting the event live, focused on a number on the back of her vest: 48. That's the number of hot dogs the competitor managed to wolf down in fewer than eight minutes at the previous event – her personal best. Sudo is a real star in the world of competitive eating. The mother of one, who's also an oral medicine student, has already won 10 editions of the famous Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. She is a master of the sport of eating food as quickly as possible.

Microphone in hand, an announcer in a boater hat spoke to the crowd. Sudo took her place at the table in front of a mountain of hot dogs. At her side, 13 other candidates were ready to do battle. There was Michelle Lesco, the 2021 champion, who managed to devour a 5-kilo blackberry tart in less than 10 minutes, and Mayoi Ebihara, a Tokyo native famous for eating 9 kilos of ramen noodles in 60 minutes. The starting signal was given. The participants tackled their first bites. Each had several large cups filled with water, into which they first immersed the sandwiches.

This method, known as dunking, makes the bread more compact and easier to slide down the esophagus. Sudo gobbled up the soaked bread first, then devoured the sausages two by two in short, beaver-like spurts. Her perfectly manicured hands pushed them mechanically down her throat. Behind her, a man in a tank top kept count, flipping the pages of a sign each time a hot dog was eaten. The scene evoked the ring girl sequence in boxing matches, when scantily-clad women climb into the arena to announce round changes.

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