Carlene LeFevre is a

competitive eater Competitive eating, or speed eating, is an activity in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions c ...

from

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

. She and her husband, Rich LeFevre, are said to form the "First Family of Competitive Eating", and are both top ranked members of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. The childless couple has combined to take two of the top seven places in

Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest The Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition. It is held each year on Independence Day (United States), July 4th at Nathan's Famous, Nathan's Famous Corporation's original, ...

in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She is nicknamed "The Madam of Etiquette" for her relative degree of decorum while consuming mass quantities of food quickly. Her trademark technique is called the "Carlene Pop," in which she bounces up and down while eating to get the food to settle. LeFevre grew up in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and met her husband at a square dance in

Daly City Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She has worked as an elementary school teacher, aerobics instructor, and a

Mary Kay Mary Kay Inc. is an American privately owned multi-level marketing company. According to '' Direct Selling News'', Mary Kay was the sixth largest network marketing company in the world in 2018, with a wholesale volume of US$3.25 billion.

cosmetics saleswoman. Her first notable gastronomic achievement was finishing the famed 72 ounce steak from the

Big Texan The Big Texan Steak Ranch is a steakhouse restaurant and motel located in Amarillo, Texas, United States, which opened on the previous U.S. Route 66 in the 4500 block of East Amarillo Boulevard in 1960. It relocated to its present location on Int ...

steakhouse in

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in 1985. The restaurant provided her meal for free after she finished the steak in under an hour. She has bested the Big Texan's challenge on more than ten occasions since then, and one such event was filmed for the ''

Ripley's Believe It Or Not ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' fea ...

'' television program in 2000. The LeFevres started entering eating contests the following year. Since that time, they have competed in numerous competitions around the United States. LeFevre has also competed in a buffet contest in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. While she has placed high in many contests, the only contest she has won that was not a qualifying contest for Nathan's was a

Posole Pozole (; from nah, pozoll, meaning ''cacahuazintle'', a variety of corn or maize) is a traditional soup or stew from Mexican cuisine. It is made from hominy with meat (typically pork, but possibly chicken), and can be seasoned and garnished w ...

(hominy stew) contest in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

in November 2004. In addition to their appearance on ''Ripley's'', the LeFevres have also appeared on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'', a buffet contest on the Travel Channel, the Donny & Marie Osmond Talk Show, ''The View'' and the BBC Worldservice's "Outlook" programme. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/outlook/index.shtml

External links

International Federation of Competitive Eating Profile page

Get Out Arizona interview

2003 LA CityBeat article

Big Texan 72 ounce steak finishers database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lefevre, Carlene American competitive eaters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Henderson, Nevada

See also

External links