Sonya Thomas, a 43-year-old Virginia native, devoured 181 chicken wings in 12 minutes on Sunday to win the National Chicken Wing Eating Contest. Thomas not only beat out world champion eater and heavily favored Joey Chestnut, but she smashed her record of 174 wings set in 2005.
Thousands gathered at the National Chicken Wing Festival at Coca-Cola Field in downtown Buffalo to witness Thomas eat a total of 4.86 pounds of chicken wings while Chestnut gobbled up 4.55 pounds. The competition left Thomas hungry for more as she proceeded to eat 20 hot wings an hour later in the Ridiculously Hot Buffalo Wing Eating Contest.
Over 33 tons of chicken wings were consumed this weekend at the festival. The two-day event featured a variety of restaurants from all over the country and attracted more than 71,000 visitors from all 50 states as well as 36 countries.
