Eater X Remembered: Tim Janus, Competitive Eating Legend, Dead at 49

Tim Janus, the competitive eater who became a fan favorite as Eater X, died September 16 at 49 from complications of cancer. He competed in Major League Eating from 2006 to 2018, climbed to No. 2 in the world rankings, and was inducted into the MLE Hall of Fame in 2016. His signature look, a face painted like a Viking warrior, made him one of the most recognizable figures in a sport full of big personalities.

The numbers he put up still sound impossible. Janus set a ramen record with 10.5 pounds in under eight minutes and ate 141 pieces of nigiri in six minutes. At the 2014 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest he finished 44 dogs. Off the table, he teamed with Joey Chestnut for The Amazing Race season 30, won $100,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and had been accepted into the U.S. Foreign Service before his diagnosis.

Fellow eaters and friends remembered him as one of a kind. His former roommate Crazy Legs Conti called him“unique, brilliant and beloved by his friends.”Janus put it his own way:“I tell people that I learned a lot about life by eating hot dogs, and I mean it.”What’s your favorite Eater X memory?