NEW YORK — This year’s Fourth of July race to stuff your face with hot dogs has a new women-only pigout.
“Serena Williams didn’t have to beat Roger Federer to win the Wimbledon title, and we don’t think Sonya Thomas should have to beat Joey Chestnut,” said master of ceremonies George Shea.
Thomas, known as “The Black Widow” of competitive eating, set a women’s world record July 4, 2009, by stuffing 41 hot dogs into her 105-pound frame in 10 minutes.
Thomas and nine other women will compete Monday on Coney Island just before the men’s stomach-churning Nathan’s Famous hot-dog feast, which this year again features world champion Chestnut, nicknamed “Jaws.”
Nathan’s officials say they feel that female champions like the diminutive Thomas and Juliet Lee, also weighing about 105 pounds, “are not getting full exposure for their accomplishments; we’re selling them short.”
