Top Dog! Shawnee Days sends two qualifiers to national hot dog eating contest

Published: Jun. 9, 2025 at 1:22 PM CDT|Updated: 2 hours ago
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SHAWNEE, Kan. (KCTV) -Results are in.

Radim Dvoracek and Jocelyn Young are headed to Coney Island!

They are the male and female hot dog-eating qualifiers from the Old Shawnee Days qualifying competition in Shawnee, Kansas. The two won eating 29.5 and 11.25 dogs, respectively.

In addition to Shawnee, there are also sanctioned qualifier competitions in Hershey, Pa., Cleveland, Ohio, and Bristol, Conn.

The winners in each of those states will compete against Dvoracek and Young for the title of Top Dog at the international championship in Coney Island, New York, on July 4th.

The Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual sporting event broadcast on ESPN where competitive eaters eat as many hot dogs and buns as possible within 10 minutes.

A “Mustard Belt” and $10,000 prize purse go to the winning man and woman.

Joey Chestnut has won the contest 16 times and is considered the greatest eater in history, according to Major League Eating, but was banned from participating in 2024 over his endorsement of Impossible Foods, which makes plant-based hot dogs.

Miki Sudo, right, and Mayoi Ebihara, left, compete in the women's division of Nathan's Famous...
Miki Sudo, right, and Mayoi Ebihara, left, compete in the women's division of Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, Thursday, July 4, 2024, at Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Sudo won by eating a record 51 hot dogs. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)(Julia Nikhinson | AP)