Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2012: Where to Watch All of Wednesday's Action

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than by celebrating the country's most enjoyable display of gluttony?

Wednesday is the Fourth of July, which also means it's the day we've all waited the entire year for: the day of the 2012 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Even if the idea of eating more than 60 hot dogs in 10 minutes makes you want to vomit, it's still fun to watch other people do it while being thankful for your own intestinal health.

This year's contest will still be held at the traditional noon start time. A plan to move the event to 3 p.m. was reversed due to crowd management needs, since record numbers are expected to attend the event in Coney Island, according to an official press release issued by Major League Eating. More than 40,000 fans are expected to be in attendance.

An attempt to change the time of the event was made to accommodate ESPN's Wimbledon schedule, but in order to satisfy all parties, the contest will be held at its originally scheduled time and will be aired on tape delay later in the afternoon.

The women's championship will be held at 11:30 a.m. ET, while the men's championship will follow at noon on Wednesday.

If you just can't take the suspense, you can see the events go down live at 11:30 a.m. and at noon on ESPN3's live stream, or you can enjoy the afternoon's action at the All England Club and catch the hot dog eating contest on tape delay at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The decision to air the event on ESPN3 this year but was made to accommodate the ever-growing interest in the event, ESPN Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions Jason Bernstein said in the press release:

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With the amount of interest in this year's event, we thought a second helping of the championship was in order. We're happy to add the ESPN3 and ESPN combo platter to the championship menu this year.

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Approximately 30 eaters will partake in this year's contest, including the man everyone comes to see: five-time reigning champion Joey Chestnut, who currently holds the world record in hot-dog eating with 68 dogs consumed. Also on tap to participate will be women's record-holder Sonya Thomas, who has consumed 41 hot dogs and buns in one 10-minute sitting.

So sit back, relax, maybe enjoy one hot dog of your own and take in all the action live on ESPN3 at 11:30 a.m., or on ESPN at 3 p.m. ET.