Wolf Files: Too Fat to Eat Fast?

— -- Even though you shouldn't judge athletes by their physical appearance, some people still say, "White guys can't jump." If that's true, we might soon be saying, "Fat guys can't eat."

Look at some of today's top competitive eaters. Lightweights are beating heavyweights at what was once thought to be their own gluttonous game.

Takeru Kobayashi of Japan — famous for devouring 50 ½ franks in 12 minutes — weighs just 144 pounds, less than half as much as many of his rivals.

In 2002, when this diminutive man set that amazing mark, he more than doubled the previous world's record, and is now widely regarded as the Michael Jordan of eating events.

Now, on the Fourth of July, Kobayashi must once again defend his title at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at New York's Coney Island.

If you doubt that competitive eating is the newest American sport, consider that it will be broadcast live on ESPN with additional play-by-play over ABC Radio and yours truly will be on the scene to provide insight into the world's biggest food fight.

This year, Kobayashi's biggest rival might be the only competitor who's even smaller than he is.

Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas of Alexandria, Va., is the hottest newcomer on the competitive eating circuit and weighs just 105 pounds. The petite 36-year-old dynamo set nine world's records last year, devouring everything from fried asparagus spears (5.75 pounds in 10 minutes) to cheesecake (11 pounds in nine minutes).

Last year, she had a surprisingly strong showing at the Nathan's hot dog contest. Now, she returns as the sport's newest diva.

In one of her greatest victories, Thomas smashed the hard-boiled egg record by downing 65 eggs in six minutes and 40 seconds — and Thomas claims she could have doubled the previous high (39), if only shell-shocked race officials hadn't run out of eggs.

"I never get fat. I just eat one meal a day, no candy, and I run four times a week on a treadmill," says Thomas.

"I don't care how big the guy is, I'll out-eat him. It's not about size. It's about competition. I want to be the hot dog champ."

Where have all the big guys gone? They're still in the game. Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, the highest-ranked American-born competitor in the Coney Island dogfight this weekend, expects to weigh in at 419 pounds.

Jarvis, a 36-year-old real estate broker from Long Island, N.Y., is ranked No. 3 worldwide among competitive eaters, behind Kobayashi and Thomas. But anyone who can inhale 21 cannolis in six minutes and more than a gallon of ice cream in 12 minutes must be taken seriously.

"I think we've shown that competitive eaters come in all sizes," says Richard Shea, president of the International Federation of Competitive Eating, the sport's sanctioning body.

"To be a food-eating champ, you need stamina. You need to train," Shea says. "In that respect, being overweight doesn't help."

Veteran food-racers say body size is less important than stomach elasticity. When they train, they'll stretch out their stomach by drinking massive amounts of water.

"I drink a gallon and a half of water in under two minutes," says Jarvis. "The first two gallons go down in a minute and five seconds. The last two cups take a minute. That's when you start to sweat."

Donald "Moses" Lerman, a 45-year-old former matzo ball- and burger-eating champ, has been refining his training methods for years.

"I'll stretch my stomach until it causes internal bleeding," he says. "I do it for the thrill of competition. Some people are good at math. Some people are good at golf. I'm good at eating."

"When you've eaten your 12th matzo ball in under three minutes, you have reach deep within yourself to finish number 13."

Thomas, a rookie sensation and the top female competitor on the food circuit, doesn't train with water. She drinks diet soda while working at her job in a Burger King.

"I walk around with the jumbo cup and swallow one glass after another, each day a little more," she says. "I also walk as I do this, so that helps me take in as much liquid as I can."

As thin competitors, Thomas and Kobayashi may be better able to stretch out their stomachs, at least according to former hot dog-chomping champ Edward Krachie, who is researching what he calls the "Belt of Fat Theory."

According to the theory, when a heavy person eats, the expansion of his stomach is restricted by his rolls of fat, which hold in his gut like a belt, and may explain the recent dominance of smaller eaters.

Krachie, who weighs 470 pounds, held the hot dog-eating record before Kobayashi, eating 22 ¼ dogs in 1996. He studied food competitors of various sizes over a five-year period to develop the Belt of Fat Theory, which remains one of the sport's biggest controversies.

"I believe if Ed 'Cookie' Jarvis lost 100 pounds, he'd be a better eater," says Kevin Lipsitz, who took the pickle-eating championship from New York radio personality Curtis Sliwa a few years ago by consuming 2 ½ pounds of sour pickles in five minutes.

"But Ed is one of the best in the business. He knows what he's doing, and he keeps getting better."

Lipsitz retired from hot dog eating after competing for a record seven straight years.

Still, he remembers training for the Coney Island competition with his two German shepherds, Sabrina and Rascal — and weight control wasn't the aim. "I'd cook up a family pack of 40 hot dogs and we'd race," he says, adding, "We don't eat out of the same bowl."

Buck Wolf is entertainment producerat ABCNEWS.com. The Wolf Files ispublished Tuesdays. If you want to receive weekly notice whena new column is published, join the e-maillist.