Sonya Thomas, at 99 pounds, gobbled her way to another speed-eating title over the weekend by attacking a Wisconsin staple — the bratwurst.
The woman known as The Black Widow on the competitive-eating circuit downed 35 brats in 10 minutes to win the first Johnsonville Brat-Eating World Championship. She edged out her nearest competitor by half a brat to win.
“I don’t know where she puts it,” spectator Sue Van De Kreeke said. “I got sick watching her.”
The previous bratwurst-eating record was 19½ brats in 10 minutes.
Thomas, a Burger King manager from Alexandria, Va., is ranked second by the International Federation of Competitive Eating, which sanctioned Saturday’s contest during Brat Days. Her various eating records include ones for hard-boiled eggs (65 in 6 minutes 40 seconds) and chicken wings (167 in 32 minutes).
The day before the bratwurst-eating contest, she won a grilled-cheese-sandwich eating contest in San Diego, eating 22.