Belmont Student Seeks Hot-Dog Eating Glory

NASHVILLE, TN — It all started with a class assignment and it's going to end at Coney Island. Belmont University senior Stevie Palmer will challenge for the title as the world's fastest female frankfurter feaster July 4 at the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Palmer won a regional qualifier in Louisville in April, downing 10 dogs and sending her to the annual championship, which will be aired from its traditional Brooklyn location on ESPN. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

After winning, Palmer told the Louisville Courier Journal her journey began when she was required to create a "personal brand" for a media marketing class at Belmont. Having a reputation as a quick and voracious eater, Palmer created a Twitter profile that listed her as a "competitive eater" with the nickname "Hungry Hungry Stevie." Someone noticed and suggested she try to qualify for the most well-known eating competition in the world.

"It feels great, it feels surreal right now," Palmer told the paper. "Now I'm leaving with a trophy, but I also feel like I'm going to vomit."

In the parlance of competitive eating, vomiting is known as a "reversal of fortune" or "the Roman method" and is grounds for immediate disqualification.

Among Palmer's competitors is three-time defending women's champ Miko Sudo, who ate 38.5 hot dogs and buns last year.

Image via Wikimedia user David Shankbone, used under Creative Commons