Michelle Lesco (Photo courtesy of Nathan’s Famous Hotdog Eating Contest)

Tucson’s Michelle Lesco Takes 3rd Place at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest


July 4, 2024
By Matt Sterner

Back in 2021, local Tucsonan Michelle Lesco snagged first place at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest — taking the “Pink Belt” home.

She didn’t take home the mustard this year but she did get third place in the women’s challenge. During the event, Lesco had to eat as many Nathan’s Famous hot dogs in buns as she could within a 10-minute period.

She ate 23.75 hot dogs to win the bronze! Right on, Lesco! If you round that up to the nearest hot dog, that’s pretty much 24 hot dogs.

Michelle Lesco (Photo by Jackie Tran)

Miki Sudo, out of Florida, took first place by eating a record-breaking 51 dogs in 10 minutes — winning her tenth career championship.

Mayoi Ebihara, of Tokyo, Japan, came in second after eating 37 dogs.

If you’d like to learn more about some of her past eating adventures, read our full feature on her, Meet ‘Cardboard Shell’ Michelle Lesco, World-Class Competitive Eater.

Keep up with Cardboard Shell on Facebook.

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