Sonya Thomas proves she's no turkey when it comes to eating. Weighing in at all of 100 pounds, Thomas shows size is no indication of appetite during a pre-Thanksgiving turkey-eating contest in New York.

A group of competitive American eaters assembled at Artie's Deli in New York on Wednesday to gobble down 10-pound roast turkeys and find out.

In 12 minutes, Thomas ate 4 pounds, 3.1 ounces of bird, which won her the $2,500 first prize. In doing so, Thomas beat out seven men in the annual Thanksgiving Invitational: a race to eat a 4.5kg turkey. The smallest in the field, Ms Thomas put her victory down to "swallowing fast."

It's the latest big win for the Alexandria, Virginia resident. She is ranked as the number 2 competitive eater in the world, behind Japan's Takeru Kobayashi, according to the International Federation of Competitive Eating, which sponsored the turkey-eating event.

On July 4, Thomas was in New York for the annual Nathan's hot dog eating contest, where she finished second, but set an American record by gobbling 37 franks in 12 minutes.