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Sonya Thomas

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Sonya Thomas at the 2005 Midway Slots Crabcake Eating Competition
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Sonya Thomas at the 2005 Midway Slots Crabcake Eating Competition

Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (born Lee Sun-kyung (이선경) in 1969) is a top-ranked American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating eating greats such as Cookie Jarvis and Eric Booker.

The 105-pound Thomas is the number one competitive eater in the United States, and ranked second in the world (Japan's Takeru Kobayashi is #1), with 27 world titles.Moon, Amy. "[ASIAN POP: Superchomp Korean-born Sonya Thomas is the No. 1 ranked female competitive eater in the USA]." [SFGate.com]. May 26, 2005. Retrieved on June 25, 2006. Her nickname "The Black Widow" refers to her ability to regularly defeat men four to five times her size. While the size of her stomach is only slightly larger than normal, her skinny build is perhaps her biggest advantage, allowing her stomach to expand more readily since it is not surrounded by the ring of fat common in other heavy eaters.Barakat, Matthew. "[At 100 pounds, chewing her way to stardom]." Washington Times. July 2, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006. She holds records in over 25 eating competitions,"[Sonya Thomas IS ... 'The Black Widow' of Competitive Eating]." (personal website) Retrieved on June 25, 2006. none of which was against Kobayashi.

Her most famous result is 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes (July 4, 2005 at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest), setting a record for American competitors. This record was broken by Joey Chestnut on May 18, 2006 at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier in Las Vegas.Staff Writer. "[CHESTNUT: 50 HOT DOGS!!!]" International Federation of Competitive Eating. May 18, 2006. Retrieved on June 25, 2006. The all-time record of 53 3/4 frankfurters was set in 2006 by Kobayashi. Another Japanese entrant consumed 38 hot dogs that year. Her 2005 contest result made Sonya Thomas the world's greatest eater pound-for-pound, as her ratio of hot dogs eaten to body mass (37 / 105 lb. = 0.352) was greater than Kobayashi's (49 / 144 lb. = 0.340). On August 8, 2005, she consumed 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes, beating the previous 10-minute record of 19.5 bratwursts.

Contents

Beginnings

Thomas was born in Kunsan, South Korea to parents of modest means who had difficulty keeping up with their ravenous daughter's grocery bills. She worked her way through college as a typist, and obtained a degree in hotel management. Having difficulty finding a job commensurate with her degree, she emigrated to the United States with her family in 1997, where she was hired as a manager at the Burger King on Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Thomas amazed her co-workers with the amount of fast food she could eat.

Competition

Fitness and training regime

To stay in shape, Sonya has one big meal a day, with lots of green vegetables and fresh fruit, and always avoids junk food. She exercises by walking uphill on a treadmill for two hours, five times per week.Dixey, Anne. "[Could you stomach this?]" Times Online. June 12, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006."[Interview With Sonya Thomas]." (live transcript) CNN. September 17, 2003. Retrieved on June 25, 2006. She also regularly visits all-you-can-eat buffets at restaurants.Staff Writer. "[US 'speed eater' devours rivals]." BBC News. March 30, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006. The night before a contest, she fasts all night in order to put an edge on her appetite.

Rookie year

After seeing Kobayashi (approximately 145 pounds) win the 2002 Nathan's contest, Thomas realized size was not an impediment to being a world-class eater, and entered the competitive eating circuit. In her first contest, the June 2003 Nathan's qualifier held at the Molly Pitcher rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike, her tally of 18 hot dogs took first place and enabled her to compete in the July 4th competition held at Coney Island. Her total of 25 hot dogs there broke the women's record set three years earlier by Takako Akasaka, the dominant female in Japanese competitive eating. Thomas had several strong performances in the remainder of 2003, including record setting victories in turducken and fruitcake competitions. At a single-person exhibition in a rock festival in Indianapolis, she ate 65 hard-boiled eggs in under 7 minutes, setting a record and amazing the skeptical concertgoers. Though Thomas had only competed for half of 2003, the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) named her Rookie of the Year.

Champion

Thomas's victory in the 2004 Wing Bowl helped establish her as the premier American "gurgitator" of both genders.Carlson, Peter. "[A Tough Act to Swallow]." Washington Post. January 31, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006. Her tally of 32 hot dogs in the 2004 Nathan's Hot Dog contest was the most ever eaten by a male or female American competitor at the time. The only eaters besides Kobayashi to defeat Thomas between the 2004 and 2005 Nathan's contests were Bill "El Wingador" Simmons in the controversial 2005 Wing Bowl, and Dale Boone, who won a contest eating overheated baked beans after he doused the beans in water to cool them down.

Challenge and Response

When Sonya undertook a challenging schedule of three contests in three cities on Labor Day weekend 2005, she had not lost a contest to anyone besides Kobayashi since the Wing Bowl in early February. Several last-minute victories foreshadowed that her streak would not last forever. At the Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, NY, Ms. Thomas lost to Eric "Badlands" Booker in a chicken wing contest and then lost a waffle eating contest in Atlanta the next day to the fast-rising rookie Joey Chestnut, giving her a two event losing streak to replace her winning streak. Sonya's waffle defeat was avenged on Labor Day, however, when she out-ate Chestnut in the Chattanooga, TN Krystal Square Off qualifier. Thomas ate 57 Krystal Burgers to Chestnut's 56.

Before the GoldenPalace.com turkey eating contest in New York City Thanksgiving Eve, Sonya Thomas had gone three months without winning a non-qualifying contest, although she did have two impressive victories in qualifiers during that span. It appeared that Joey Chestnut would soon claim the title of the leading American eater from Sonya. The civil engineering student from San Jose State had defeated Sonya in three of their last four match-ups and was the first eater to lead Kobayashi for the majority of a contest at the Krystal Square Off in Chattanooga the previous week. Although Thomas came in third, the silver lining was her domination of Kobayashi on a pound for pound basis: Sonya 56 burgers / 100 lb. = 0.56, Kobayashi 67 burgers / 170 lb. = 0.39.

At the turkey contest, Sonya Thomas was able to dramatically reverse her recent slump and defeat Joey Chestnut without last second heroics, which she had not been able to do since Nathan's hot dog contest on July 4. Sonya's momentum continued the following week at a meatball contest in Atlantic City. Her total of 10 lb. 3 oz. beat Chestnut by two pounds and almost doubled her total from the previous year's meatball contest. Sonya's continued improvement, along with Chestnut's rapid ascent appears to give Kobayashi more to worry about in 2006 than at any time in his dominant career.

Future

In 2005, Thomas earned more than $50,000 in prize money and made extensive media appearances.Markon, Jerry. "[Making Room for Whatever Is on the Table]." Washington Post. November 17, 2005. Retrieved on June 25, 2006. She is unclear how long she will continue eating competitively, but she hopes to own a fast-food franchise one day. She would like to compete in Japanese eating contests, which pay more but last longer than she prefers. She intends to continue eating competitively until she either loses her desire, or falls out of the ranks of the elite eaters.

Training and competition notes

Records

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest results

Year of Contest Hot Dogs Placing
2003 Qualifier 18 held at Molly Pitcher Rest Area, New Jersey
2003 Contest 25 5th place, & female record
2004 Qualifier 26.5 held at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2004 Contest 32 3rd place, female record, & U.S. record
2005 Qualifier 32 tied female & US record; held at Norfolk, Virginia
2005 Contest 37* 2nd place, US record, & female record
2006 Contest 37* 3rd place, tied female record

References

External links

 

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