Thirteen Year Old Wins Rotten Sneaker Contest

Thirteen-year-old Katharine Tuck's sneakers is $2,500 richer because of her stinky sneakers.

The Utah seventh grader out-ranked six other children to win the 32nd annual National Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest on Tuesday, stinking up the joint with a pair of well-worn 1 1/2-year-old Nikes so noxious they had the judges wincing.

The contest, which was founded in 1975 as a sporting good store promotion and is now sponsored by the manufacturer of anti-foot odor products, pits children from around the nation who have won state-level competitions for the generally cruddy condition of their footwear.

Each contestant had to jump in place once and then make one full turn taking off his or her shoes and handing them to the judges. Only one of them wore socks, not wanting to the sweat to go to waste in the socks.

Odor-Eaters paid to fly eight contestants � each with a parent � to Vermont for the contest.

Tuck says she has used them to play soccer, basketball and other sports, hiked in them and waded into the Great Salt Lake, where they became infiltrated with brine shrimp.

"I'm so proud of the little stinker", said her mother, Paula Tuck, upon winning the contest.

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