With all the buzz in the media about the recent Winter Olympics, the U.S. is focused on the spirit of competition set on a world stage.  A recent spot on ABC Nightline showcased another competition composed of worldly competitors…the World Food Championships in Las Vegas.  This vignette was just a peek behind the curtain at this massive yearly competition that is made up of teams and individuals who battle it out for the ultimate honor of World Food Champion.  No medals are awarded, but the $300,000 dollars in total prizes could buy a lot of gold, to say the least.

Imagine Las Vegas and the countless number of pedestrians on the loose, seeking the glitz and glam, while enjoying the icy blue cloudless dessert sky. Now picture the same setting, but Kenmore has just unloaded fifty plus full kitchens and the WFC staff is feverishly assembling them. The eighteen wheeler from US Foods just hit the corner at 3^rd street and is backing in the refrigerator truck that will house all the ingredients for the competitions. You head off to your room and by the time you’ve washed your face and changed your clothes there is a kitchen coliseum consuming downtown Vegas. The sparkle in everyone’s eye isn’t the hopeful winnings on the slot machine, these folks came to town with recipes and techniques. They are the qualified! They are the competitors and there are more than three hundred of them competing in one of seven different categories. It’s the World Food Championships and Vegas was chosen for its ability to offer bigger, better and more. The November dates are selected to ensure that the pool of the four hundred plus annual qualifying contests are complete and the world’s food talent is assembled. There is a strategy, a reason, and a method to this madness, and it’s happening in the last quarter of each year.  It’s big, bad, and it’s only just begun.

The brain child of Mike McCloud and Larry Oliphant, the World Food Championships has become the world stage for food competition. The multiple day event only continues to impress the unimpressible culinary connoisseurs.  With a common love for food and skill, this paradise foodie retreat is worthy of the media attention it’s gaining.

The recent spot on ABC Nightline highlighted just a few of the different categories of competitors at the World Food Championships, but there will be more to come.  An A&E network is airing a 6-part series on the competition in the spring/summer of 2014 that will show all the competitions, the competitors’ journeys to the World Food level and the ultimate champion.  Finally, the media is beginning to recognize America’s favorite “sport,” eating delicious food.

Just as the Olympic teams and competitors train vigorously in the months and years leading up to the Olympic games, these die-hard food competitors compete throughout the year to gain entry into the World Food Championships.  These cooks are as committed to perfecting their recipes as the ice skater is in perfecting that triple axle.   Just as the medalists have to qualify to even compete in the Olympics, the entrants into the World Food Championships must also qualify at other local competitions across the United States to gain not only bragging rights, but entrance to compete at the World Food level.

With the stakes high and the prestige looming, the competitors put in the long hours needed to hone their skills and wow the judges.  It all comes down to the final table, and who will walk away victorious.  For the competitors who don’t make the final cut, their passions are ignited even more to put in the hard work and push themselves even harder, in the hopes that next year, the title of World Food Champion will be theirs.

So, if you are sad to see the Olympics over, and looking for an exciting high stakes competition where the competitors are vying for a world title, tune your television to the A&E network this Spring/Summer for the World Food Championships.  Better yet, make plans to attend the 2014 World Food Championships in Las Vegas to get a front row seat of the biggest “food fight” you will ever see.  And, here’s a bonus, you don’t have to wait four more years to find out who is the best at their craft.