Sonya Thomas: Competitive Eating Records, Extensive Training, Net Worth, & Personal Information

Sonya Thomas is a competitive eater known for holding many competitive-eating records in her name. She made her debut in 2003 winning the Rookie of the Year award of IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating). Thomas soon grew up to the top ranks with her amazing ability and soon made her name among the elites of the competitive-eating field. Check out more details about Sonya Thomas such as her personal and professional life, interesting facts, etc in this article.

Sonya Thomas Personal Life

The table below provides some basic personal information about Sonya Thomas. No details about her parents or family are known.

Full name	Sonya Thomas
Birth name	Lee Sun-kyung
Nicknames	The Black Widow The Leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus
Date of birth	July 26, 1967
Place of birth	Kunsan, South Korea
Place of residence	Alexandria, Virginia, US
Occupation	Competitive eater
Net worth (as of 2023)	$1 million (est.)
Height	1.52 m
Zodiac sign	Leo

Competitive Eating Competitions & Challenges

Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and earned her first major victory just one year later at a competition in the 2004 Wing Bowl. With this victory, she became the first woman to ever win a Wing Bowl. In Nathan’s Hot Dog contest in the same year, she ate 32 hot dogs and created the record for the maximum number of hot dogs ever eaten by a male or female American competitor at the time. In 2006, Sonya won her Asian debut competition in Hong Kong by eating 17 Chinese-style lotus seed buns in 12 minutes. He set another world record with this.

From 2007 to 2011, Sonya came first in every chicken wing eating championship held by the National Buffalo Wing Festival US. In 2011, she also won the United States Chicken Wing Eating Championship in Buffalo, New York. In the competition, she ate 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes. Earlier the same year, Thomas won the inaugural Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for Women championship. She came first after eating 40 hot dogs in 10 minutes and won $10,000 and the inaugural Pink Belt.

Major Losses

After winning for five consecutive years at the National Buffalo Wing Festival, Thomas lost to Joey Chestnut in 2012. He ate 191 chicken wings in 12 minutes to win the competition. At another Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, New York, she lost first place to Eric Booker in a chicken wing contest. Sonya lost another waffle-eating contest in Atlanta again to Joey Chestnut. Chestnut also defeated Thomas at a contest at the Krystal Square Off in Chattanooga where she came in third.

Sonya Thomas’ Training Routine & Eating Habits

Check out the diet and training routine of Sonya Thomas that helps with her competitive eating stamina.

Thomas walks on an inclined treadmill for two hours, five times in a week.
She visits all-you-can-eat buffets at restaurants regularly to maintain her habit.
She never practices speed eating for more than two minutes.
Sonya fasts all night before a contest to put an edge on her appetite.
She only eats one very large meal a day and takes her sweet time to finish it.
Her meal includes green vegetables and fresh fruit.

Contest Results and Records

Hot Dog Contest Results

Thomas has appeared in the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest since 2003 and appeared among the top eaters. She used to come first place in women when the competition was held for men and women combined. After the competition was separated for men and women, Thomas always ranked among the top three contenders.

Year	No. of hot dogs	Rank
2003	25	5^th
2004	33	3^rd
2005	37	2^nd
2006	37	3^rd
2007	39	5^th
2008	34	6^th
2009	41	6^th
2010	36	4^th
2011	40	1^st
2012	45	1^st
2013	36.75	1^st
2014	27.75	2^nd
2015	31	2^nd
2016	35	2^nd
2017	30	3^rd

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Buffalo Wing Contest Results

Thomas has won the Buffalo Wing Contest a total of 7 times, once consecutive for two years (2003 & 2004) and then again five years consecutively (2007 to 2011).

Year	No. of buffalo wings	Rank
2003	134	1^st
2004	161	1^st
2007	173	1^st
2008	165	1^st
2009	169	1^st
2010	181	1^st
2011	183	1^st

Eating Records held by Sonya Thomas

Here are the eating records held by Sonya Thomas in terms of number:

1.125 Gallons of Chili in 6 minutes
4 pounds, 141⁄4 ounces of Wegman’s Fruitcake in 10 minutes
5.75 pounds of tempura deep-fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes
6 extra large Bocce pizza slices in 15 minutes
7 3⁄4 pound Thickburgers in 10 minutes
7.75 pounds Turducken.com Thanksgiving Dinner in 12 minutes
9 pounds of crawfish jambalaya in 10 minutes
11 pounds of Downtown Atlantic cheesecake in 9 minutes
23 pulled pork sandwiches in 10 minutes
38 moon pies in 8 minutes
43 soft tacos in 11 minutes
44 lobsters totaling 11.3 pounds of lobster meat in 12 minutes
46 dozen Acme Oysters in 10 minutes
46 three-ounce crab cakes in 10 minutes
65 hard-boiled eggs in 6 minutes and 40 seconds
80 chicken nuggets in 5 minutes
183 chicken wings in 12 minutes
206 gyoza in 10 minutes
250 tater tots in 5 minutes

Trivia

Sonya Thomas is one of the top-ranked eaters in the International Federation of Competitive Eating (Major Eating League).
After all her contests, Sonya claimed to have had significant stomach capacity left.
She out-ate professional football player Randy Thomas, well-known for his appetite. She consumed 6.5 pounds of shrimp in 10 minutes compared to Randy’s 1.5 pounds.
Her favorite foods at competitions include chicken wings, oysters, and hard-boiled eggs.
She has been featured in a MasterCard Paypass commercial along with fellow competitor Takeru Kobayashi.
Thomas participated in multiple events and earned more than $50,000 in prize money in 2005.
Her dream was to own a fast-food franchise one day.
She wanted to compete in Japanese eating contests but they last longer than she prefers.
Sonya holds records in more than 25 eating competitions.
She is nicknamed “The Black Widow” owing to her ability to defeat men who were four to five times her size.