年度全美“最靚牛頭犬”閃亮登場
Riggs named most 'Beautiful Bulldog'
Riggs sits on the throne after being crowned the winner of the 28th Drake Relays Beautiful Bulldog Contest, Monday, April 23, 2007, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Riggs hardly looks or acts like a beauty king. A 3-year-old male bulldog, Riggs is a drooler with protruding teeth and a penchant for attacking noisy appliances, begging for crumbs and hopping on furniture.
Fortunately for the canine from Prairie City, Iowa, those traits endeared him to judges Monday in the "Beautiful Bulldog" contest, an annual event held to draw attention to the 98th running of the Drake Relays. The relays, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious track and field events, will attract nearly 8,000 athletes.
Riggs beat out a 50-dog field to take the crown. Contest organizers acknowledge the event is more about a winning personality than beauty.
"The last thing you're going to get with a bulldog is beauty," said master of ceremonies Dolph Pulliam. "But bulldogs have character. They have a certain 're the kind of dog you look at and you get scared. But you know what? These are the friendliest darn bulldogs in the world."
Many thought Riggs' chief competition would be Hank, the offspring of the last two contest winners. Last year's winner, Hannah, gave Riggs a snarl, but he kept his cool, plodding down the runway both gracefully and glacially.
The brown and white dog was dressed in a form-fitting costume in Drake's blue and white colors.
"He's the most beautiful bulldog (with) his attitude and his demeanor." said his owner, Cordell Miller. "He's very excited."
Riggs celebrated by posing for photographers and munching on a doggy bone, leaving crumbs and drool on his throne.
"He's pretty low key, until it's time to eat," Miller said.
裏格斯的長相和行爲實在難以和選美冠軍聯繫在一起。三歲的公牛頭犬裏格斯長着暴牙、流着口水、愛攻擊發出聲響的電器、總是搖着尾巴要麪包屑吃，還喜歡在傢俱上跳來蹦去。
幸運的是，正是這些特點使得這隻來自愛荷華州大草原市的牛頭犬獲得本週一“最靚牛頭犬”選美大賽的冠軍，這項年度賽事拉開了第98屆德雷克接力賽的序幕。德雷克接力賽是美國最古老、最具名望的田徑賽事之一，今年將近有8000名運動員參加。
裏格斯擊敗50名參賽“選手”，成功加冕。比賽的組織者說，比賽看重的是個性，而不是漂亮與否。
頒獎司儀多爾夫·普廉姆說：“對於一隻牛頭犬來說，漂亮與否是次要的。但牛頭犬有自己的特點，它們長着一副讓人一看就會被嚇到的臉。但大家知道嗎？它們是世界上最友好的牛頭犬。”
很多人認爲裏格斯的主要競爭對手是上兩屆比賽冠軍的後代漢克。上屆比賽冠軍漢納對着裏格斯一頓狂吠，但裏格斯鎮靜自若，沉着優雅地緩緩走下了跑道。
裏格斯的毛色褐白相間，身穿德雷克接力賽藍白相間的隊服。
裏格斯的主人考德爾·米勒說：“它以自己的舉止和風度獲得最靚牛頭犬稱號。它很開心。”
裏格斯則以擺POSE照相和大嚼狗骨頭慶祝自己的勝利，麪包屑和口水都弄到了冠軍寶座上。
米勒說：“除了吃東西的時候，它都很低調。”
