Madison Barone, disqualified at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Friday, July 4 because she couldn’t keep the food down, said she feels no embarrassment about what happened.
“Nope,’’ Barone, 24, told USA TODAY Sports three days after the contest in Coney Island, N.Y. “It was very discreet. All part of the sport.’’
Barone, who lives in Manville, New Jersey, was making her debut at the 2025 contest. Overshadowed by the likes of Joey Chestnut and women’s champion Miki Sudo, she still managed to gained notoriety for violating contest rules.
It started with her eating nine hot dogs and buns by the time the 10-minute contest ended. Then, before the top five finishers had been announced, she started to feel uncomfortable and found a trash can, according to Barone.
“As soon as I got off the stage and everything came up, it wasn’t even like I was sick,’’ she said. “It was more of force. It was more of my body just letting it go.
“And I was like, ‘Oh, man, everybody saw that. Now I’m disqualified.’ ”
Indeed, she was.
‘Ms. Barone experienced urges contrary to swallowing after the contest but before the conclusion of presentations and the awarding of places,’ Sam Barclay, director of operations at Major League Eating, told USA TODAY Sports. ‘By Major League Eating rules, urges contrary to swallowing before the conclusion of the event, including presentations and the awarding of prizes, results in a DQ.’
George Shea, who has served as the contest announcer since 1991, said he was unaware of any such incident taking place at Nathan’s since then.
Barone, who was a wild-card entrant after finishing second at a qualifier, said she hopes to compete at Nathan’s next year.
“If I do,” she said, ‘it’s going to be the biggest comeback ever.’’
The biggest stories, every morning. Stay up-to-date on all the key sports developments by subscribing to USA TODAY Sports’ newsletter.
