Black Widow Out-Chili-Cheeses Chestnut By Ounce
Sonya ’The Black Widow’ Thomas ate eight pounds and two ounces worth of Wienerschnitzel Chili Cheese Fries in ten minutes aboard the Queen Mary this afternoon, earning the title World Chili Cheese Fries Champion…of the World by a mere ounce. Venerable rookie Joey Chestnut scarfed a respectable eight pounds, one ounce to finish second.
11 Feb 2006
Queen Mary, Grand Ballroom, 1:00pm PST
For once. Once in my life I’d like to sit on the sidelines and just enjoy the moment as it comes. Alas that’s not meant to be, friends. Not in this lifetime. My impeccable freelance judging skills are requested by Master of Ceremonies George Shea at the zero hour and I suddenly find myself in the front row of the action, hovering near contestants in the line of food fire, counting containers, watching for rule breaches, fending off photographers two at a time. Locust. Joey Chestnut. Eater X. Jalapeno Jed Donahue. The Black Widow. I’m facing a wall of masticating talent. Suddenly we’re off! People are eating. Fans are screaming. I’m watching these world-class athletes do what they do best. The air is thick with chili, cheese, flashbulbs. Carlene LeFevre, the Locust’s wife and a formidable eater in her own right, lends moral support to her husband nearby.
Two minutes, thirty seconds to go. Chestnut is amazing, a true manimal. It’s suddenly announced he’s on his seventh dish. The widow surges. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the widow is that palpable surge. Upon hearing that she’s trailing one of her competitors she surges with a furious energy, deftly shoving inordinate amounts of food into her expansive cheeks unceremoniously and accurately. Robotlike. Widowlike. I’ve seen it before but that was another time, another place, another food.
Photos, breakout chart and cheese-laden wrap-up after the jump.
From the IFOCE news desk:
Sonya Thomas edged out arch-rival Joey Chestnut by one ounce at the Weinerschnitzel World Chili Cheese Fry Eating Championship in Long Beach, CA. Thomas consumed 8 pounds 2 ounces of the famed fries in 10 minutes while Chestnut ate 8 pounds 1 ounce.
In third was Eater X Janus (wearing custom face paint with elegant whitecaps in honor of the Queen Mary) downed (sic) 5 pounds 13.5 ounces to place third. Jed Donahue ate 5 punds 11.25 ounces for fourth, followed closely by LeFevre. Next was Chip Simpson.
Event Photos:
After the ceremony I ate a full pound of leftover chili cheese fries and prowled around ye olde Queen Mary. It took me the better part of twenty minutes to finish a single pound of fries, which then sat in my belly with all the grace of a cinder block. Eight pounds in ten minutes? I’ll stick to judging. Out. |
Takin’ it to the scales What happens when eating competitions run as closely as today’s Chili Cheese Adventure? Maestro Shea takes the detritus straight to the scales…
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