He came to defend his title, carrying a blue ribbon around his neck, brimming with confidence.

"We're experienced and seasoned. It's not training that we do. It's a lifestyle," said Jason Reott, 23, before the NuWay hot dog eating contest Wednesday at the Georgia State Fair.

The lifestyle, he said, is a love of eating, and last year he ate four and one-quarter hot dogs in three minutes, a feat that won him first prize.

Wednesday night he said the competition was tougher than it was last year.

Near the entertainment stage, Reott stood with 12 men and women before two full aluminum bleachers and a crowd of more than 150.

As contestants shoved, poked and used their lips to pull hot dogs into their mouths, an announcer teased Reott, telling the crowd, "Jason is slow. He's slower this year."

Reott's sips of water and enormous bites of three and one-quarter hotdogs this year were no match for his co-worker, Ronny Turner, who ate slightly less than four hotdogs. Reott said the two minutes allotted for eating instead of three minutes given last year made the difference.

"It's about endurance," said Reott, who captured third-place honors Wednesday.

But second-prize winner Jeff Fraley looked at it differently.

"Ronny outclassed both of us. He has an artificial stomach," Fraley joked.

Still Fraley, 35, said he was impressed that Reott came back to defend his title and said it improves the three-year event.

"It's nice to see a tradition established," Fraley said.

The contest was one of several eating contests at the fair this year. A pizza eating contest also was Wednesday. Within the week there will be a doughnut eating contest and a fried green tomato eating contest.

Fraley was humble after his second-place win.

"This is not the brightest thing I've ever done," he said. He said he had concerns that gorging on food was a bad example for his 2-year-old son.

"When it came time to do it I said, 'Why not? I'll show off for my son,' " he said.

Shawn Buller, 23, who even had a fan wearing a shirt claiming to be his number one fan, joked that he was "saddened to the core" for his loss.

Still, he said he was glad he tried to defend last year's second-place title and will enter again.

"It's not a fair without a food-eating contest," he said.

Turner, the first-place winner, said he'll be back for the rematch as well and wasn't intimidated by his opponents this year.

"I told them that an old man could come in and whip 'em," he said.

Asked how he felt about his win, he said with a shrug, "Pretty good."