When did you start developing your competitive eating skills?

When did you start developing your competitive eating skills?

Ian "The Invader" Hickman (Competitive Eater) gives expert video advice on: Who inspired you to be a competitive eater?; When did you start developing your competitive eating skills?; Did you have any support in your quest to become a competitive eater?

I really feel like I started developing my competitive eating skills when I ate that steak. The sixty-four ounce steak, which I would have had to pay for if I didn't eat the whole thing, that's when I realized that maybe I wanted to cut bigger bites instead of smaller ones, swallow harder instead of the comfortable swallow [and ask myself,] “Could I have eaten two of those steaks?” It was basically the beginning of me questioning what I can do, and I think that is how a lot of sports evolve—because you go from being the guy who can hit it so far (the ball) to the guy who can hit it over the fence, because that's what you're aiming for. Because you want to get better—so you're going to try to do techniques, and train, to become better. It's a sport. You have got to get better at it.