KEENE, Calif. (KERO) — Kern County native Elizabeth Salgado went to New York with 2 goals: To eat her favorite food, which is a hot dog, also sometimes known as a glizzy, and to cross The Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest off her bucket list.
But it was her nickname, Glizzy Lizzy, that took the internet by storm. It's something Salgado says she never expected.
"I thought people would just get a good laugh out of it and that's it, and then family and friends started saying, 'You're on the internet. You're everywhere.' I'm like, 'Oh, cool.' It feels like it's not me," said Salgado. "Like I'm watching it with everybody else."
Salgado, a resident of Keene, earned an invitation to the international hot dog eating competition after taking second place at the qualifying competition in Pleasanton, California, eating a record 8.75 hot dogs.
At her Coney Island, New York debut, Salgado fell short of her record. She downed 4 hot dogs alongside the 2023 winner, Miki Sudo, who polished off 39.5 dogs.
While Salgado didn't take home the $10,000 prize, she came back to California with newfound fame, all credited to a name her coworkers gave her during their lunch breaks.
"Every lunchtime, we kind of say what are we feeling like [eating], and I would always say hot dogs, pretty much," said Salgado. "That's how I got my name."
Salgado's coworker and best friend Anna Campos says she came up with the idea randomly and it stuck.
"You like hot dogs, so Glizzy Lizzy, and she's like, 'Oh, I don't know. What does that mean?' I was like, 'You like hot dogs,' and she didn't tell us she was going to use that name, and then we saw it posted everywhere," said Campos. "And I was like, 'What the heck? You used that!'"
Not only did Campos give Salgado her nickname, she encouraged her to travel to New York to compete when Salgado initially told her she wasn't planning to go.
"She was like, 'I don't know, I'm not going to eat a lot of hot dogs,' and I was like, 'Okay, when are you going to ever get that opportunity?'" said Campos. "So she went."
Campos watched the competition at home, proud of her friend, and says she will be helping Salgado train for next year's competition.
"I was like, 'Hey, that's my friend! That's Glizzy Lizzy!' But other than that, it was fun for her," said Campos. "I was glad she got to experience all of it."
Salgado says she plans to practice once a month and increase her hot dog eating training by spring of next year to prepare for next summer's competition, adding that she never gets tired of eating hot dogs.
"Right after the contest, yeah, I just want to relax for a little bit, but the next day, I think about it and I say… yeah, I can go for a hot dog," said Salgado.
Ultimately, Salgado says she enjoyed her experience in New York and taking part in The Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, and she encourages others to grab their opportunities and go for what they want in life.
