Bedford native competes in Nathan"s Hot Dog Eating Contest

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BEDFORD, Va. (WDBJ7) Sitting in their kitchen on a rainy fourth of July morning, Georgia and Winston Chapman waited anxiously by their computer.

"Is that BeeJay?" asked Georgia.

"I can"t tell," replied Winston, waiting impatiently to catch a glimpse of his daughter.

As an announcer yelled "BeeJay Alexander!" Georgia Chapman became giddy and started taking pictures of the computer screen with her cell phone.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "There"s my girl!"

BeeJay Alexander is a competitive eater. Monday morning she took part in Nathan"s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

"I get real excited, having my daughter up there on a national stage with the best," Winston Chapman told WDBJ7.

Alexander bit into her sport at a forth of July event in Bedford.

"There was a watermelon eating contest," explained Georgia Chapman. "She entered it and she won it."

Since then the Chapmans say their daughter has trained and worked to compete at the highest levels.

They"ve watched with pride and a little bit of wincing, marveling at the amount of food Alexander and her competitors can put away.

"They"re woodchippers," Georgia Chapman said, shaking her head at the site on her screen.

Like parents in the stands of any other athletic event, they keep track of the players.

"Oh, there"s Sonya," Georgia said with concern.

"The Black Widow," added Winston.

The goal of Nathan"s Hot Dog Eating Contest? Eat as much as you can in 10 minutes.

Alexander wasn"t expected to win and ultimately she didn"t come in first or second, but she set a new personal best: 17-and-a-half hot dogs in 10 minutes. She finished in fifth place.

The Chapman"s say their daughter has already found a career she loves as a marine biologist, but they know she"ll always have an appetite for food battles and that"s something they can swallow.

"We absolutely love our daughter and support her in every way," Winston Chapman said.

"As a Mom I do worry about all that volume in there, but I have to put that aside and just get into it and enjoy it," said Georgia Chapman with a laugh. "It"s fun!"

Source: http://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/Bedford-native-competes-in-Nathans-Hot-Dog-Eating-Contest-385485321.html