Nathan’s Hot Dog Duel: 1 Disqualified, 33 Buns, Urges Defy Science

Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest 2025, Coney Island’s annual dog-swallowing melee, ended with Miki Sudo eating 33 buns while Madison Barone was disqualified for “urges contrary to swallowing.” Why do eaters get DQ’d? How many hot dogs before disaster? Major League Eating’s Sam Barclay explained, “Urges contrary to swallowing before the conclusion of the event… results in a DQ.”
While Sudo’s 33-dog triumph grabbed headlines, Barone’s fate became a trending search: why do hot dog eaters get sick on stage? What are the contest’s strict rules? Organizers refused to use the word “vomit,” comparing it to “saying Voldemort”—as if Coney Island’s boardwalk had a spell for dignity. Barone, age 24, did not comment.
Flatly, Barone’s “urges contrary to swallowing” occurred between scarfing hot dogs and the final trophy, meaning the contest’s most forbidden act—publicly reversing a bun—remains cloaked in mysterious euphemism.