PARIS – The only rule is to be perched on heels at least eight centimetres (three inches) high - the prize is boxes and boxes of shoes.
A total 96 shoe addicts, a common condition with fashionistas, signed up for Friday evening’s National Stiletto Championship, which took place after office hours on an indoor track in the old stock exchange building in central Paris. The finalists hail from all over France and made it into the glam challenge after a series of regional races. The prize is 3,000 euros worth of shoes.
The race was a three-part relay over 180 metres (yards) involving 32 teams of three with names such as “Yes We Can”, “Sexpistols” or “Superwoman”.
Volunteers from the Red Cross will be standing by in case of accident, but last year’s competition wound up without a single twisted ankle.
Winners of the 2008 edition will be competing again this year, a TV journalist, a psychologist, and a lawyer competing under team name “Talk To My Foot (Parle A Mon Pied)”. Also taking part in the event is stilleto school “Talons Academy”, a private business that doles out tips on how to walk in heels without hurting one’s back or one’s ankles.
The trick for Friday’s contestants, she said, was “mastering the half-turn. Turning is a key, you have to get it right for each foot. Stilettos is all about technique.” - AFP