When it comes to wolfing chicken wings, Sonya Thomas is a wiz.
The 48kg competitive eater who goes by “The Black Widow” bested a dozen beefy rivals on Saturday night, scarfing 173 wings in 12 minutes to win the wing-eating contest at the National Buffalo Wing Festival.
“That’s 5,17 pounds [2,35kg] of wings,” said Brian Kahle, spokesperson for the annual event in the city where buffalo wings were born.
Thomas (40), who is originally from South Korea and now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, also held the festival’s previous record of 161 wings in 12 minutes, set in 2004.
“She’s the crowd favourite,” Kahle said. “It was 12 huge guys and her.”
Thomas has set numerous records in competitive eating events, including 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes; 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes; 11 pounds of cheesecake in nine minutes; 44 lobsters in 12 minutes; and 250 Tater Tots in five minutes.
She is ranked number five by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. According to the federation’s website, number-one-ranked Joey Chestnut holds the 12-minute record for chicken wings, downing 3,4kg of them on May 21. — Sapa-AP
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International Federation of Competitive Eating