A 45kg woman ate 26 grilled-cheese sandwiches in 10 minutes at a New York restaurant, winning the World Grilled-Cheese Eating Championship.
Sonya Thomas won $8 000 for the contest at the Planet Hollywood restaurant in Times Square on Wednesday, but said she was disappointed in her performance.
”I could have done better,” she said, adding that she was aiming for 30 sandwiches.
Thomas said she had to catch a train shortly after the contest to make her shift at a Burger King on Andrews Air-Force Base in Maryland, where she is a manager.
She said she has a naturally big stomach capacity and heavily soaked her sandwiches in water to make them easier to swallow. She said to train she drinks large amounts of water to expand her stomach capacity and practises relaxing her throat.
Thomas, whose normal weight is about 45kg, estimated she gained 4,5kg during Wednesday’s contest.
It was a close win. Her nearest competitor, Joey Chestnut, ate 25-and-a-half sandwiches.
On the eating contest circuit, Thomas is known as the ”Black Widow”, apparently because she has defeated so many larger men.
She holds numerous world eating records, including 46 dozen oysters in 10 minutes, 5kg of cheesecake in nine minutes, 48 chicken tacos in 11 minutes, 37 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes and 56 hamburgers in eight minutes. — Sapa-AP