Sonya Thomas

Infobox Person
name = Sonya Thomas

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image_size = 250px
caption = Sonya Thomas at the 2005 Midway Slots Crabcake Eating Competition
birth_date = birth year and age|1969
birth_place = South Korea
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = competitive eater
spouse =
parents =
children =

Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (born Lee Sun-kyung (이선경) in 1967Fact|date=July 2008) is a top-ranked Korean-born 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 98-pound Thomas is the number four competitive eater in the United States, and ranked fifth in the world , with 29 world titles.Moon, Amy. " [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/05/26/eat.DTL ASIAN POP: Superchomp Korean-born Sonya Thomas is the No. 1 ranked female competitive eater in the USA] ." " [http://www.sfgate.com/ 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. " [http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20040702-102423-2836r.htm 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, [" [http://sonyatheblackwidow.com/_wsn/page2.html Sonya Thomas IS ... 'The Black Widow' of Competitive Eating] ." (personal website) Retrieved on June 25, 2006.] though none of her wins have come in competitions versus top-ranked eater Takeru Kobayashi.

Her most famous result is 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes (July 4, 2005 at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest), setting a then-record for American competitors (which was also the female record). On August 8, 2005, she consumed 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes, beating the previous 10-minute record of 19.5 bratwursts, although her record was beaten in 2006 by Takeru Kobayashi.

Beginnings

Thomas was born in Kunsan, South Korea to parents of modest meansFact|date=October 2007. She worked her way through college as a typist, and obtained a degree in hotel managementFact|date=October 2007. Having difficulty finding a job commensurate with her degree, she emigrated to the United States in 1997, where she was hired as a manager at the Burger King on Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

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 on an inclined treadmill for two hours, five times per week. [Dixey, Anne. " [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-100-1141057,00.html Could you stomach this?] " "Times Online." June 12, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.] [" [http://robots.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0309/17/lol.06.html 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. " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3583649.stm 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 a smaller stature 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' first major victory that put her on the competitive eating map was in the 2004 Wing Bowl . [Carlson, Peter. " [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48-2004Jan30?language=printer 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 Thomas 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. Thomas' 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 Thomas. The civil engineering student from San Jose State had defeated Thomas 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: Thomas 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. Thomas' 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. Thomas' 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.

On August 13th of 2006, Thomas won her Asian debut competition in Hong Kong while setting her 28th eating record, by consuming 17 Chinese-style lotus seed buns in 12 minutes.

In the Media

*She was featured in a Mastercard Paypass commercial. By accident, she meets Takeru Kobayashi, a male competitor, in a convenience store. Their eyes flash, and they begin a hot dog eating duel, which they pay for using the Paypass card. [http://www.priceless.com/cards/paypass/index.html Kobayashi's Mastercard Paypass ad]

Sonya recently appeared in a new episode of Nickelodeon show "iCarly" as Sam's personal chef, Chef Sonya. She continued to make 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and some pie, among other things.

Future

In 2005, Thomas earned more than $50,000 in prize money and made extensive media appearances. [Markon, Jerry. " [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/16/AR2005111600095.html Making Room for Whatever Is on the Table] ." "Washington Post." November 17, 2005. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.] She is unsure 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

* Thomas exercises up to two hours a day on an incline treadmill, and has maintained her weight since she started competing in 2003, down from 135 pounds when she worked as a typist in Korea. Her lowest weight has been 99 lb. at Wing Bowl XII in 2004.
* She only eats one very large meal a day, which takes several hours for her to complete. A typical post-work meal for her would be three large orders of fries, a chicken Whopper, 20 chicken tenders, and two 32-ounce diet soft drinks.
* She does not practice eating at maximum speed for more than a two-minute period.
* Her favorite foods to eat in competitions are hard-boiled eggs, oysters and chicken wings.
* She claims to have had remaining stomach capacity after all her contests, except after eating the nine pound Barrick burger, which took her 48 minutes to finish. She ate enough oysters to set the untimed record for oyster eating after the 2005 oyster competition was officially over. [Harris, Sara Ann. " [http://www.louisianaseafood.com/news.cfm?ArticleID=82 Pinch Me! I think I just saw her eat 552 oysters] !" " [http://www.louisianaseafood.com/ Louisiana Seafood] ." Retrieved on June 25, 2006.]
* She believes that the combined weight of the Barrick burger, bun and water she drank was probably 17 or 18 pounds, and that this is approximately her current gastronomic maximum.
* She believes her best chance of beating Kobayashi would be in an 8–10 minute contest, in which superior technique could be a deciding factor. In a longer contest she feels that Kobayashi's advantage in stomach capacity (he can eat over 20 pounds) would be too much to overcome.
* She had difficulty eating a hot dog in under a minute when she first started training for her first contest, the 2003 Nathan's qualifier. After practicing, she was able to consume 18 hot dogs in 12 minutes.
* She out-ate Randy Thomas, a pro football player noted for his appetite, consuming 6.5 pounds of shrimp in 10 minutes to his 1.5 pounds. [Demasio, Nunyo. " [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A37842-2004Nov9?language=printer With Thomas, It's Not Just Food for Thought] ." November 10, 2004. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.]
* 1st place in "National Buffalo Wing Eating Contest" and "Buffet Bowl" at Buffalo, NY's WingFest 2007

Records

* Asparagus
** 5.75 pounds of tempura deep fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes
* Cheesecakes
** 11 pounds of downtown Atlantic cheesecake in 9 minutes
* Chicken nuggets
** 80 chicken nuggets in 5 minutes
* Chicken wings
** 173 chicken wings in 12 minutes
* Crabcakes
** 46 three ounce crabcakes in 10 minutes
* Eggs
** 65 hard boiled eggs in 6 minutes and 40 seconds
* Fruitcakes
** 4 pounds, 14 1/4 ounces of Wegman's Fruitcake in 10 minutes
* Hamburgers
** 7 burgers (3/4 pound) "Thickburgers" in 10 minutes
* Jambalaya
** 9 pounds of crawfish jambalaya in 10 minutes
* Lobster
** 44 lobsters totaling 11.3 pounds of lobster meat in 12 minutes
* Oysters
** 46 dozen Acme Oysters in 10 minutes
* Pizza
** 6 extra large Baci pizza slices in 15 minutes
* Pulled pork
** 23 pulled pork sandwiches in 10 minutes
* Tacos
** 43 soft tacos in 11 minutes
* Tater tots
** 250 tater tots in 5 minutes
* Turducken
** 7 3/4 pounds Turducken.com Thanksgiving Dinner in 12 minutes [Gillen, Eric. " [http://www.blacktable.com/turducken031217.htm The Road to Turducken, Part 1] ." " [http://www.blacktable.com/ The Black Table] ." December 17, 2003. Retrieved on June 25, 2006.]

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest results

References

External links

* [http://www.sonyatheblackwidow.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.ifoce.com/eaters.php?action=detail&sn=20 International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) Profile]