Jesse Dean, a Georgia College & State University senior, was named the first-ever Corndog Eating Champion Oct. 5 at the Georgia National Fair.
A crowd swarmed to watch the feast as 16 competitors ate as quickly as they could. The competition was broken into two waves, with eight contestants eating corndogs at a time.
“Who’s ready for this?” the announcer excitedly asked through her megaphone. “When the music starts to play, start eating, and when the music stops, everyone should drop everything, and put their hands up.”
Contestants had two minutes to eat five quarter- pound corndogs, with whoever finished the most within the allotted time, winning the round. For the third and final round, the winners from rounds one and two went head-to-head, with whoever could finish three mini fair funnel cakes fastest taking home the gold.
The competition was presented by Freund Family Foods for the Georgia National Fair’s celebration of the White House’s “America 250,” an initiative created by President Donald Trump to commence a year’s worth of festivities that span from Memorial Day through July 4, 2026, to celebrate the USA’s 250th anniversary.
While there were many competitors, only one corn dog enthusiast could come out as top dog.
Dean is a 21-year-old senior accounting major at GCSU and a Milledgeville resident. After graduating, Dean plans to start an internship in January at Carr, Riggs, & Ingram, an accounting firm in Atlanta, and then pursue his Master of Accountancy at the college.
“I promised my girlfriend I’d bring her home the trophy, although I had no expectations of actually winning,” Dean said, following the competition.
Everyone who competed in the food feud received free admission to the fair, a blue Perry-themed bandana, and a patriotic lei. The winner received $50 fair bucks to spend as they chose while on the fairgrounds, as well as a golden Corndog Champion trophy.
Dean finished fourand- a-half fair-sized corn dogs within two minutes, averaging 2.25 quarter-pound corndogs a minute.
After winning, Dean said, “I’m shaking a lot. I don’t know if it is adrenaline or the fact that I have four-and-a-half corndogs and three funnel cakes in me.”