The Truth Of Miki Sudo's First Ever Competitive Eating Contest
Competitive eating is definitely not meant for everyone. It requires grit, determination, and lots of practice. There are some well-known superstars like Miki Sudo who don't hold back anything while chasing the most coveted titles in the field. In fact, Sudo is so good at what she does that she's considered to be one of the best competitive eaters in the world. Her records are pretty outstanding: she once ate 37 hot dogs and hot dog buns in around 10 minutes (via Heavy).
Here's an interesting tidbit about what makes Sudo tick: She has Japanese roots and lived in Japan for seven years, something that made her appreciate the idea of always polishing off the food in front of her. It's a part of Japanese culture to eat everything on a plate, a habit that eventually really helped Sudo when she became a professional competitive eater.
According to a piece by Mental Floss, Sudo's first eating contest was pretty random. She even took herself by surprise.
She was meant to be in the field
When Miki Sudo started out, she didn't know that she would end up becoming a professional competitive eater. As per Mental Floss, she got into her first-ever eating contest randomly and had some friends rooting for her. They were at a Chinatown eatery in Las Vegas called Pho 87. The contest, known as the Phozilla, required participants to eat an enormous amount of pho in about 33 minutes. Sudo figured that even if she couldn't pull off the feat, she'd walk away with an interesting story.
Telling that story, shre said, "I started kind of slow ... but by the time I was down to the last few ounces, my friends were looking over at me, going, 'Oh, my God—she's actually going to do it.'" Well, Sudo proved that she wasn't a casual player and managed to devour 12 pounds of Vietnamese noodles and a gallon of fluid in just a little over half an hour. Not an easy task, eh? She was awarded $1510 for completing the challenge.
Of course, she is now an established name in the competitive eating business. Sudo said, "The best I can explain it is that it's adrenaline. During a competition, it just completely takes over."