The Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest this year came with a footnote.
One of the eaters was disqualified.
The women’s standings shown on a graphic on the event organizer’s social media site listed “Madison Barone (DQ).’’ She’s not listed in the final results distributed by Major League Eating, which runs the contest.
So what happened?
‘Ms. Barone experienced urges contrary to swallowing after the contest but before the conclusion of presentations and the awarding of places,’ said Sam Barclay, director of operations at Major League Eating,. ‘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.’
“Urges contrary to swallowing” translates to getting sick.
Barone, a 24-year-old from Manville, New Jersey, did not immediately respond to an interview request sent by email.
George Shea, who has served as the contest announcer since 1991, said he was unaware of any such incident taking place at the time. And he was averse to using graphic language to characterize what took place.
‘We will only say urges contrary to swallowing.” Shea told USA TODAY Sports. ‘We never utter other words. It is like saying Voldemort.’