Some people look at a plate of hot wings or hamburgers and look forward to relishing every bite. Others see it and imagine how to stuff as much of it down their throats as quickly as possible. Therein lies the difference between the average eater and competitive eaters, those who’ve made eating a sport and actually train themselves toward gluttony—guzzling water by the gallon, stretching their stomachs with low-calorie foods like cabbage, fasting, doing cardio for stamina, and having mini–gorge sessions before competition.
You’d think these events would attract a certain type of person, but a look at the International Federation of Competitive Eating’s (IFOCE’s) profiles of the most successful eaters in the field shows that they come in every size and from all walks of life. And oddly enough, the fact that they inhale every food imaginable at gag-inducing speeds isn’t always the most interesting part of their stories.
1. Bob Shoudt
Also known as the “Notorious B.O.B.” and “Humble Bob,” he’s eaten ninety-five hamburgers in eight minutes, 34.75 barbecue beef brisket sandwiches in ten minutes, and 23.4 pounds of salmon chowder in various competitions. But outside of contests, he eats like the rest of his family—that is to say, vegetarian. The only time Shoudt consumes meat is for events that offer prize money; the rest of his family is vegetarian 100 percent of the time. He claims his kids have never tasted meat. Considering how much Shoudt consumes at each event, it probably adds up to more than the average carnivore would eat in his lifetime, which is why he hesitated to call himself a vegetarian in a 2009 interview with the Houston Chronicle. But he has the blessing of his wife, just as long as it’s for competitive reasons only. That’s a pretty ingenious way to stay carnivorous in a house full of veggies. After all, eating 13.9 pounds of chili spaghetti is sure to quench a meat craving for at least a little while.
2. Timothy Janus
When competing, Janus, the current tiramisu-eating world champion, goes by the name “Eater X” and wears a mask for reasons unknown—to hide his shame? To add an air of mystique to his image while he hoovers 141 pieces of nigiri sushi in six minutes? It’s anyone’s guess. This masked eater has trained so much for events that his stomach muscles no longer contract on their own, at least according to a 2007 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study on the effects of competitive eating. Janus was able to eat thirty-six hot dogs in ten minutes before doctors stopped him—he wasn’t full yet. They found that the hot dogs were sitting in his stomach like rocks, when the muscles should have been contracting the food toward digestion. Perhaps the mask shields Janus’s pained face because he hasn’t had a proper bowel movement since he entered the field.
3. Sonya Thomas
She’s one of only two women in the IFOCE’s top forty ranked eaters, but at number five, she’s one of the most well-known and respected members, regardless of gender. Otherwise known as the “Black Widow,” this petite sensation (she weighs in at 105 pounds) earned her nickname by taking down men at least twice her size in competition. Some believe her small frame actually works to her advantage—the “belt of bat” theory in competitive eating suggests that stomachs can expand more if they don’t have much fat blocking the way. Given that Thomas has downed forty-eight soft tacos in eleven minutes, eleven pounds of cheesecake in nine minutes, and a nearly eight-pound turducken in just over ten minutes, there might be something to that theory.
