Early Sonya Thomas articles
Brian Seiken has uploaded a scan of an article about Sonya Thomas winning the 2003 Molly Pitcher qualifier.
The oldest online article about Sonya is probably this Washington Times article from June 30, 2003 about Sonya’s preparations for the Coney Island finals:
Miss Thomas’ seemingly bottomless pit has earned her an all-expenses-paid trip to Coney Island to square off against gluttonous giants from around the globe. Despite her inexperience in competitive eating, Miss Thomas said butterflies in the stomach will not be a problem. Her biggest concern, she said, will be pacing herself.
“My stomach doesn’t hurt, and I don’t get sick, but eating so much so fast takes getting used to,” said Miss Thomas, an employee at Bolling Air Force Base. “Twelve minutes is not a lot of time. But I think I’ll do OK because after the first contest, I wasn’t full.”
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Anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 2:37 am
One difference I ve noticed between Thomas and Lee is that when Thoma sfirst started out she seemed reluctant to boast even though she starting winning early on but Lee has been quick so far to brag about her abilities also claiming that she is as good as Thomas even though she has yet to win an event and has been eating over a year.
Luther
gary said
March 24, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
You are the most negative poster.Get a life
anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 2:44 pm
Lee never bragged about her abilities . Seiken played up the angle on his website for publicity but he never mentioned that Lee thought she was a better eater than Sonya Thomas .
Anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
That fact was mentioned here on eatfeats by Juliet herself last year around late summer or fall and I am not making that up and that is water under the bridge now anyway.
Luther
Anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
See for yourself whoever you are and this quote is from Aug 16, 2006. Just see the cut and paste below. and specificly look at the last sentence.
Luther
“UrbanHonking truefan Three Brothers Pizza writeup availableAugust 16, 2006 at 1:47 pm by ojrifkin · Filed under Contest Results, Other Trencherwomen, Pat Bertoletti
Liz and Krista’s report from the Three Brothers Pizza eating contest has been uploaded to truefan. A flickr gallery of the contest is also available. Some observations from that writeup:
“Juliet Lee claims that she can eat more than Sonya Thomas. Like Sonya, she believes her forte is non bready foods which do not require much chewing. […] “
Anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 8:54 pm
WHERE ARE YOU NOW aNONYMOS AND GARY?????????
I do have my beliefs but I aint a liar.
Luther
ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)
March 24, 2007 @ 9:37 pm
The urban honking article containing the Juliet Lee quotes can be found at:
http://www.urbanhonking.com/truefan/archives/2006/08/winning_it_big.html
Anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 10:30 pm
O. J. Thank you/
Luther
beautifulbrian said
March 24, 2007 @ 10:37 pm
WOW! I cant believe i never saw this article before and i follow almost all of Liz’s writings even the non eating stuff. This is superb journalism. I think we realize Juliet deserves the nickname Beautiful that is if she doesnt mind sharing it with me . I dont think at this stage of the game i could change my eaters nickname. For you trivia buffs in 1999 several years before i was donned the name “beautiful” i tried going with “cant catch me” . It was evident in a ’99 Nathans qualifier with Rich Shea at the mic. When i realized my competition was not only catching me but surpasssing me , i had to ditch that name real fast. Juliet is a good friend and her talent is beyond belief. I am currently working with her as i did with Subich and she will be in the top ten before you know it. From what i hear i guess its the mediocre to fairly good eaters that make the best coaches
ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)
March 24, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
In fairness to Juliet, I am not sure she realized she was talking with a reporter.
Anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 11:38 pm
O. J. and Brian I realize I am not well liked here and I understand as my personnna but I have to give it to the girls I cut down and that being Sonya and Juliet that they are both talented regardless of my mean comments sometimes.
Luther
Anonymous said
March 24, 2007 @ 11:42 pm
She realizes it now and this is probably a good lessn to learn from.
Luther
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 12:18 am
In fairness to Sonya I think she spoke with alot of humbleness when she said she once ate 40 eggs in 13 minutes because a few months later if Im not mistakened according to Crazy Legs she ate 65 eggs in six minutes or close to it and I have to say she might have even improved in the three years since that time.
Luther
Julieonya said
March 25, 2007 @ 12:25 am
Dear Luther,At least I like you are here, because you say what you think.
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 12:54 am
JulieSonya or I mean Juliet I like you too and I give you and Sonya credit.
Luther
anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 12:56 am
Give Juliet a break. Didn’t John Lennon once say he thought the Beatles were bigger than Jesus?
JoeyLee said (Registered January 23, 2007)
March 25, 2007 @ 10:48 am
I rarely post (or even really read) here, primarily due to some of the mean-spirited comments that routinely appear. However, since at least one poster here is obviously misinformed, I’ll try to clarify a couple of points to help this discussion.
First of all, Juliet’s professional career will span all of four months next week. Her first professional contest was on December 2, 2006 at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. She has participated in a total of three professional contests against some of the best (and nicest people) in the world. All-in-all we’re very proud of her efforts so far.
Secondly, her comment after the Three Brothers amateur contest, while accurate in fact, is somewhat misleading. For background, she almost didn’t get on stage because she was so intimidated by crowd and the competition. We actually discussed leaving before the contest even started. Then, as now, she just went there for the fun of it. None of us really considered that she might actually win.
Brian is largely correct – Juliet had never spoken to a reporter in her life, didn’t even realize that CE reporters actually existed, and frankly didn’t know much of anything about who Sonya Thomas really was. She knew that the question was about another woman who could eat a lot. I was standing next to her when she said it, and knew at that moment she really didn’t have a clear understanding of precisely what she was saying. Of course, I never would have guessed that someone many months later would make it the centerpiece of one of their continually ignorant and hateful rants. Truly unfortunate (and not for Juliet).
As I’ve said, Juliet has no agenda other than to have fun with her newfound ability and really just loves the chance to compete. The people who we now consider good friends are really the payoff. A phone call from another eater honestly brightens her day. I know – I’m there to see it. There are truly some wonderful people in this sport, and I’m proud to know some of them. These people (with the exception of BB) rarely post anything here, and Juliet follows their lead. The people who have come to know her realize that she is having a good time, wants those around her to do the same, and really might say anything to get a laugh. It’s sad that some people seem to think this stuff is life or death.
That being said, Juliet is not “Julieonya,” Anonymous,” “Dumbell,” or anyone else that posts here. There’s way too much hurtful meanness for her to get wrapped up with that – she’s just Juliet.
Try to have some fun.
JoeyLee said (Registered January 23, 2007)
March 25, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Whoops! Apologies to OJ (and BB) – I credited OJ’s comment to Brian. Too much typing, not enough double-checking. – JoeyLee
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 11:05 am
Thnks for your comments Joey Lee and I can now better understand and I will try to tone down some of my words now that I can better realize that they might hurts someone who does not deserve to be hurt. If it makes you feel anybetter I guess I just have to start accepting women in the sport as a small part. Juliet is certainly a pretty good talent I have to admit and I accept that Sonya is pretty good too, even if she is not as good as most men.
Luther
Steakbellie said (Registered August 11, 2006)
March 25, 2007 @ 11:16 am
Joey & Juliet,
I am a big fan, and am really happy you guys have gotten involved in the CE Community. It is a blessing to have other competitors who are enjoying themselves. I cant wait to see how Juliet does in her first HotDog Qualifier!
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 11:22 am
I do certainly hope she is able to qualify and maybe the I.F.O.C.E. can adviser her where to go so the competition is not too much for her.
Luther
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
Well ive learned my lesson on eatfeats and that is if my opinion differs from ojs then you will not see my postings and Chapman is right this smells like I.F.O.C.E all the way. Okay Juliet will eat 50 hot dogs. Is that acceptable enough?
(Luther)
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 12:19 pm
I think JoeyLee is Ronda because just look at the writing and how the writing is laid out and so on.
Luther
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 12:45 pm
Butch
I look forward to her qualifier also. Good Luck Juliet.
beautifulbrian said
March 25, 2007 @ 6:26 pm
Bubba thanks . Havent heard from you in awhile glad to see you are still a fan of the site. As most know i only post here when i have something important to say. I am asking the people that have said negative things about Juliet to please refrain from that type of commentary. She rarely pays attention to what others post on this site but negativity hurts and i think its wrong to try to rattle her head when she is on the verge of greatness.Aside from Kobe & Chestnut Sonya Juliet competing at the same table will provide more entertainment for the sport than you can imagine. Trust me it is going to be alot of fun.
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
As much as Sonya needs to improve, it may take a few years for Juliet to reach that level/ But after Sonya either dies or retires, Juliet will become more recognized.
(Luther)
Anonymous said
March 25, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
Sonya and Juliet competing at the same table will be like Kobayashi and Dale Boone competing at the same table.
Luther
Julieonya said
March 26, 2007 @ 4:13 am
Luther, I think Dale Boone will beat Juliet big time. She eats like bird.