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Coney Island – New York: The annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July festivities are known for their competitive eating contests, but this year, the spotlight wasn’t entirely on hot dogs. During the popular, yet lesser-known, lemonade chugging contest, one participant’s celebration took a sour turn.
Videos circulating online show a contestant, described as having a vibrant orange mohawk, downing a fraction of his gallon-sized beverage before succumbing to an impressive display of projectile vomiting during the winner’s victory lap.
The crowd reacted in horror to each subsequent upheaval of the lemonade, and the announcer can be heard saying: “Folks, I was looking away but I understand Elvis left the building.”
The unfortunate contestant’s identity is unknown, but his technicolor mohawk hair and unfortunate exit have secured him a place in Nathan’s Famous history as he continued to vomit as he made his exit from the stage.
The incident reportedly caused a brief delay (5 minutes) in the highly anticipated men’s hot dog eating contest as crews scrambled to clean the stage, but the show did go on, with champion Eric “Badlands” Booker maintaining his undefeated title and setting a new world record with a lightning-fast chugging time of 21 seconds.
Booker’s victory deserves its due, but the incident briefly overshadowed his win, some even calling it the “most memorable moment” of Nathan’s Famous this year. And eventually, (about 5 minutes later) the show did go on, into the main event. The Hotdog Eating contest.
