30 for 30: The Iron Stomach

What if I told you that the greatest competitive eater got his start in middle school? That he has no fun while eating, but does it for the thrill of winning? That he is actually a fictional character from the movie Matilda? This is the story of Bruce "The Iron Stomach" Bogtrotter.

"My name is Bruce Bogtrotter, and I'm the number one ranked competitive eater in the world. I hold the record for basically every food out there: hot dogs, Twinkies, honey butter chicken biscuits. If it can be eaten, I will eat the most of it in record time without a doubt. It all started when I was like twelve years old. We had this crazy principal named Ms. Trunchbull. She was absolutely nuts. In hindsight, the police should have definitely been involved from all the acts of child abuse she committed against us. Many of us had to go to therapy... Anyways, she made me eat an entire chocolate cake in front of the whole school. This cake was massive, and at the time I was really self-conscious about my weight. The only thing that got me through it was the whole school started cheering me on. They were all like 'Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!' and their cheers gave me a rush of adrenaline. I felt like death when I finished, but after eating that cake I was a hero in school. All the girls wanted me. Well, they wanted to see me eat, but whatever it's the same thing you know? It was from then on that I decided to commit my life to competitive eating. To be honest, I don't even like it, but I love the competition. It's something that I'm good at and the rush after a win makes everything worth it. But like any other sport, it starts taking a toll on your body."

If I were to ask you what the most dangerous sport is you would probably guess football or some other contact sport, right? Well, you would be wrong if you answered that. Competitive eaters have the highest mortality rate out of all sports. Bruce has seen many of his dear friends be taken away too soon by the sport they love. He's even cheated death a couple of times himself.

"After my tenth heart attack I took a step back and had to reevaluate my life. The one thing I am good at in life is literally going to kill me if I don't stop. There were many sleepless nights, I was a shell of my former self, and my stoke tank was at an all-time low. So I asked myself, 'What would Paul Walker do?' I knew the answer. Paul Walker wouldn't give up. Even after losing his first race to Dominic he still got with his sister. If that's not inspiring then I don't know what is. So a couple hours after I was released from the hospital I started training for the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest which is hosted every Fourth of July."

It's Fourth of July at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Number one versus number two. Bruce Bogtrotter versus Joey Chestnut. The stage is set and the crowd is growing restless.

"Joey and I are neck and neck near the end of the contest. There's maybe thirty seconds left and I'm pushing myself to my limit. I felt like I was about to pass out from the pain, but then the image of Paul Walker came into my head and everything went black. When I came to I was holding up the championship belt and everyone was going wild. Joey told me he was going to retire. He was the only other eater that could even come close to me. I realized at this moment it was time to pass the torch onto the next generation. I left my mark on the competitive eating scene. I knew Paul Walker would be proud of me."