Hot dog-eating contest marks 2 'firsts'

In a 10-minute show of masticatory mastery every bit as nauseating as it was thrilling, Sonya Thomas ate 40 franks and Joey Chestnut 62 to take women's and men's championship belts at the Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest at Coney Island.

"Whaaa!" said Thomas after winning, apparently overcome by emotion.

"I feel great!" exclaimed Chestnut, who'd sweated through his shirt and looked winded but otherwise fine, considering he'd just ingested 20,000 calories.

Meanwhile, on a Manhattan rooftop miles away, a sulking Japanese ex-champ barred from the main event over a contract dispute conducted a shadow contest, consuming 69 dogs -- a number that would have won him not just this year's title but also the world record held by Chestnut, who downed 68 in 2009.

The Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Contest had a couple of firsts: a contingent of Chinese contestants in matching red jumpsuits (who met de rigueur "USA! USA!" chants from the crowd); and a women's division with $20,000 in prize money, equal to the men's.

Among the judges were guys such as Paul Fabricatore, brought in from Toms River, N.J., because he won a Yankees trivia contest last week. "I know you can't throw up, you have to eat the whole thing -- stuff like that," he said.

But do rules, records and a television contract make a contest a sport?

"Well, compared to a lot of other things classified as sports, I would have to say yes," said Fred Segal, a 12-year veteran judge who got his start in sweet corn and dill pickle events. "I mean, people consider fishing a sport."

When the eating began, the top seeds were seated at the center of a long picnic table, judges crouched in front.

Thomas was matched for a time by Juliet Lee, World Cranberry Sauce Eating Champion. They dunked and jumped and undulated, but by the 7-minute mark -- an approximation, because the official clock was hidden by a giant dancing hot dog mascot -- Thomas had pulled ahead.

"I ate this much today?" she later asked, handed a platter of 40 dogs for a photo op. "I cannot believe that."

Chestnut squeezed his dogs in a fist, downing them two at a time, bits of bun shooting out as if from a wood chipper.

One rival, Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, gave Chestnut a chase but faded in the final minutes.

Bertoletti, a Chicago chef, had high praise both for Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, the ex-champ gone "rogue," as Bertoletti put it. His assessment: Kobayashi might be the best overall eater, but in the marquee event, Chestnut is tops.