Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest 2016: Men, Women's All-Time Results and Records

There is no shortage of traditions on the Fourth of July. There are barbecues, parades, flag waving, beach going, burgers, massive fireworks displays and, if you just so happen to be spending the day at Coney Island, Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. 

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the competition, which stretches stomachs to the limit as hungry competitors chow down on as many hot dogs as they can in one gut-busting haul. Fans can check out the women's competition at 10:50 a.m. ET on WatchESPN and the live stream of the men's competition at noon on Monday.

Last year saw Matt Stonie end Joey Chestnut's eight-year reign over the competition. Stonie downed 62 hot dogs and buns to Chestnut's 60. 

In the women's competition, Miki Sudo defended her 2014 dethroning of Sonya Thomas, eating 38 hot dogs before time ran out. 

Here's a look at the results dating back to 1972 (2011 for the women's competition), courtesy of NathansFamous.com.

Year	Men's Winner	No. of Hot Dogs & Buns
Year	Women's Winner	No. of Hot Dogs & Buns
1972	Jason Schechter	14
1974	Roberto Muriel	10
1978	Kevin Sinclair & Manel Hollenback	10
1979	Thomas Stash	19
1980	Paul Siederman & Joe Baldini	9+
1981	Thomas DeBerry	11
1982	Steven Abrams	11+
1983	Emil Gomez	10 1/2
1984	Birgit Felden	9 1/2
1985	Oscar Rodriguez	11 3/4
1986	Mark Heller	15 1/2
1987	Don Wolfman	13 1/2
1988	Jay Green	10
1989	Jay Green	15 1/2
1990	Mike Devito	16
1991	Frank Dellarosa	21 1/2
1992	Frank Dellarosa	19
1993	Mike Devito	17
1994	Mike Devito	20
1995	Ed Krachie	19 1/2
1996	Ed Krachie	22 1/4
1997	Hirofumi Nakajima	24 1/2
1998	Hirofumi Nakajima	19
1999	Steve Keiner	20 1/4
2000	Kazutoyo Arai	25 1/8
2001	Takeru Kobayashi	50
2002	Takeru Kobayashi	50 1/2
2003	Takeru Kobayashi	44 1/2
2004	Takeru Kobayashi	53 1/2
2005	Takeru Kobayashi	49
2006	Takeru Kobayashi	53 3/4
2007	Joey Chestnut	66
2008	Joey Chestnut	59
2009	Joey Chestnut	68
2010	Joey Chestnut	54
2011	Joey Chestnut	62
2012	Joey Chestnut	68
2013	Joey Chestnut	69
2014	Joey Chestnut	61
2015	Matt Stonie	62
2011	Sonya Thomas	40
2012	Sonya Thomas	45
2013	Sonya Thomas	36 3/4
2014	Miki Sudo	34
2015	Miki Sudo	38

Stonie may have beaten Chestnut last year, but he didn't best Chestnut's all-time record of 73 hot dogs and buns. Sudo ate 38 hot dogs to win last year, seven more than Thomas, but was still off the latter's record pace of 45.

Stonie, 24, surged past Chestnut and had an excellent overall 2015 in Major League Eating competitions, but the Houston Chronicle's Ken Hoffman, contrasting Chestnut with tennis great Bjorn Borg, noted the legendary eater looks primed to take back the competition: 

"

Unlike Borg, Chestnut gut-checked and began training harder than ever. He blew past Stonie in the 2016 gyro-eating contest - considered the premier lead-up event to Coney Island, much like the Golden Globes are a prelude to the Academy Awards.

Last weekend, Chestnut shocked the world of gross consumption by wolfing down 73½ hot dogs in 10 minutes - a world record. Now Chestnut has a lean and hungry look (let's just say hungry) and wants his bedazzled mustard-yellow champion's belt back. Be ready, Stonie, a tsunami is headed your way.

"

Barring the rise of an unforeseen challenger, the men's competition is going to be a two-horse race. Stonie and Chestnut blew through the competition last year. Third place went to Eater X, with 35.5 hot dogs, while Erik Denmark came in fourth with 33. 

FiveThirtyEight's Walt Hickey tracked down some of the numbers on Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, noting that the records surged to new gastronomic heights around 2004. Apparently, it comes down to advances in training, just like mainstream sports.

“We know how to run fast for 100 meters, and we’ve known that for time immemorial,” Major League Eating official Sam Barclay said, per Hickey. “When it comes to competitive eating, we have these quantum leaps in success because our eaters are working out things that no one else has worked out before.”

The women's competition also appears to be another showdown between Sudo and Thomas, though they won't lap the field in the way that Stonie and Chestnut will or Takeru Kobayashi did before them.

Third place in the 2015 women's competition went to Juliet Lee with 27.5 hot dogs and buns. Michelle Lesco was not too far behind in fourth with 26.

That's still quite a way off Sudo's pace, but with so much focus on technique and the kinds of things that can go wrong in this competition—an errant swig of water here, a few extra chews there—it's not inconceivable that another eater could break into the top two or perhaps steal the show from Sudo and Thomas.

Plus, the women's competition has been around only for a few years, so it might not yet attract the best talent. With each passing year, the field could get tougher.

With Chestnut in the kind of form that could see him break his own record, look for him to win the men's competition. On the women's side, Sudo should hold down the fort (and her lunch).