Ontario man only Canadian to compete in Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest
Posted July 4, 2024 4:24 am.
The Fourth of July may be an American holiday, but you can cheer on one Canadian Thursday afternoon, as he downs some hot dogs.
Darrien Thomas, 25, from Orillia, Ont. is the only Canadian competing in the famous Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York.
He is only the second Canadian to compete ever in the contest, which started in 1916.
Thomas is currently the number one ranked Competitive Eater in Canada and 27th in the world.
He told The Mike Farwell Show on CityNews 570 he has been practicing.
“Once or twice a week, I’ll set up a bunch of hot dogs in my backyard, I’ll put a ten-minute timer on, and try to see how many hot dogs I can possibly eat in those ten-minutes. Progressively over the weeks I raise my number higher and higher. It’s an interesting thing, but practice is very important for this.”
The day before the competition, Thomas said he sticks to a liquid diet and doesn’t consume much.
“You don’t feel good … I mean eating a bunch of hot dogs, your body is not feeling good, you wanna go for a nap, you want a whole bunch of water, you’re very dehydrated and just exhausted,” added Thomas.
“I’ve talked with my doctor, I get bloodwork done, and I’ve never had any negative effects because of it; the biggest risk is choking during the contest.”
Darrien doesn’t expect to be the $10,000 champ of the ten-minute hot dog feast.
His personal best comes in around 34 1/2 hot dogs; he expects the winner to eat about 50-plus hot dogs.
Not winning this year? Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who was banned from the contest after partnering with Impossible Foods.
