Ananova:

A 7st 7lb woman ate 173 chicken wings in 12 minutes to win a US competitive eating contest.

Sonya Thomas, known in competitive eating circles as Black Widow, munched her way past dozens of beefy rivals at the National Buffalo Wing Festival.

"That's 2.35kgs of wings," said Brian Kahle, spokesman for the annual event in Buffalo, New York.

Ms Thomas, 40, originally from South Korea but now living in Alexandria, Virginia, also held the festival's previous record of 161 wings in 12 minutes, set in 2004.

"She's the crowd favourite," Mr Kahle said. "It was 12 huge guys and her."

Ms Thomas has set numerous records in competitive eating events, including 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes, 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes, 11-pounds of cheesecake in nine minutes and 44 lobsters in 12 minutes.

She is ranked number five by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.