Joseph Christian "Jaws" Chestnut (born November 25, 1983) is a competitive eater from San Jose, California, currently ranked first in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. On July 4, 2007, he won the 92nd Annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, beating six-time defending champion Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi by consuming 66 HDBs (hot dogs and buns) in twelve minutes, which set a new world record.

(b. March 15, 1978) is a Japanese competitive eater and a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). He held the world record for hot dog eating for nearly six years, and holds several other eating records, and is the second ranked eater in the world according to the IFOCE.

Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (born Lee Sun-kyung (이선경) in 1969) is a top-ranked Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating eating greats such as Cookie Jarvis and Eric Booker. The 105-pound Thomas is the number four competitive eater in the United States, and ranked fifth in the world, with 29 world titles.

Rich LeFevre (nickname "The Locust") is a competitive eater from Henderson, Nevada (suburban Las Vegas). Rich and his wife, Carlene LeFevre, are said to form the "First Family of Competitive Eating" in spite of having normal weights and ages around 60, and are both top ranked members of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. The childless couple has combined to take two of the top seven places in Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

Gersh Kuntzman is a New York City-based journalist. Previously, he worked for the New York Post, writing the column, "MetroGnome",column which ran from 1994-2004. He also had a weekly column for Newsweek online that ran from Jan. 2001-July 2005. Kuntzman authored "HAIR! Mankind's Historic Quest to End Baldness" (Random House) and "Chrismukkah: The Official Guide to the World's Best-Loved Holiday" (Sasquatch Press), and is a frequent contributor to national magazines.

Eric "Badlands" Booker is an American competitive eater and rap musician. He eats competitively in America and makes music in the "rap" genre.

Erik "The Red" Denmark (born about 1980) is an American competitive eater and a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington and is nicknamed after Erik the Red, the Viking who founded the first Nordic settlement in Greenland.

Steven (Steve) Keiner is the 1999 winner of the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island. Keiner's victory was somewhat of an upset, as he had never participated in competitive eating before the qualifiers. Steve is one of only two non-Japanese victors of the contest since 1997. Keiner was unable to defend his title the following year, and lost to the Japanese competitive eater Kazutoyo "The Rabbit" Arai. Keiner currently resides in Egg Harbor, New Jersey.

Paul Page is an American motorsports broadcaster who was the lead announcer of ABC Sports' coverage of the Indianapolis 500 from 1988 to 2004. His place was taken by Todd Harris for 2005 in a move that proved unpopular. Page was reassigned to cover other events for the ESPN family of networks, notably the X Games, NHRA, and has quietly become a fixture calling the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. He called both IRL and Champ Car races, …

Takako Akasaka is a Japanese competitive eater from Osaka, Japan. She is considered the most successful female competitive eater in Japan. Akasaka is known as an excellent long-distance eater, specializing in sweet food, which earned her the nickname "The Sweet Queen" or "The Queen" among her admirers. She started competitive eating in 1989 and became famous when she won an annual TV Champion's eating contest in 1994.

"Hungry" Charles Hardy is a competitive eater from Brooklyn, NY. Hardy is a long-standing member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating and retired from the sport in 2005 to become the IFOCE's commissioner. During the latter half of 2004 Hungry Charles displayed a quiet dominance in eating, placing second and third in major events throughout the nation.

"Crazy Legs" Conti is an eccentric New York window washer, nude model and sperm donor, and huge fan of the annual July 4th hot dog eating competition. When he casually breaks the world oyster eating record in New Orleans, he decides to dedicate himself to fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a professional competitive eater.

If you were a whale, I would kill you and eat you and sell the rest of you to Japan and retire. I would do the same if you were a very large tuna fish.

I love to be active. Why sit around when there is so much to do? If you have a gift you should use it. Never ever give up at anything you do or let ANYONE tell you can not do something. You will never succeed if you never try. Always keep your priorities straight. God, family, and friends always come first in that order. If you want something bad enough, you will get it. There are so many amazing people.

* I'm an "Enigma", wrapped in a "Riddle", encased in "Fat"... * I'd be a Vegetarian, if bacon cheeseburgers didn't taste so goddamn good!... * I've never voted, so don't blame me, unless someone loses by one vote!... * I have a Golden Lab named Joey and three cats, Stinky, Smelly and Precious.

Patrick Bertoletti is an American competitive eater from Chicago. He is ranked second in the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Bertoletti is known as one of the "young guns" of competitive eating. Bertoletti graduated from Morgan Park Academy high school on the south side of Chicago in the Beverly neighborhood.

Justin Mih is a competitive eater and member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

What Chip Simpson lacks in world records, he more than compensates for in gurgitory prowess. In 2006, Simpson began his meteoric ascent up the Major League Eating rankings with a series of stunning upsets. He won the prestigious National Chicken Wing Eating Championship, edging out two higher-ranked eaters, The Black Widow and Humble Bob. He also took the sausage sandwich title, the House of Blues chicken wing championship belt, and then took down Pat Bertoletti for the tamale title.

Allen Goldstein is a competitive eater and part of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

Juliet Lee is a competitive eater and a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

Tim Brown is a competitive eater and a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

A talented rookie who came into his own on the 2006 Krystals circuit, Arturo Rios has already established himself as the greatest Puerto Rican gurgitator of all time. In fact, after his appearance at the table of the Krystals finals alongside the likes of Kobayashi and Bertoletti, he is no longer confused with Arturo Rios, the Mexican character actor.

"Humble" Bob Shoudt is a competitive eater from Royersford, Pennsylvania, and a top-ranked member of the IFOCE - International Federation of Competitive Eating. He is currently ranked 7th in the World by the IFOCE. He is both the highest ranked Competitive Eater in the World that is a parent or is of Native American Indian heritage.