年度全美“最靓牛头犬”闪亮登场

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 look...they'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.

里格斯的长相和行为实在难以和选美冠军联系在一起。三岁的公牛头犬里格斯长着暴牙、流着口水、爱攻击发出声响的电器、总是摇着尾巴要面包屑吃，还喜欢在家具上跳来蹦去。

幸运的是，正是这些特点使得这只来自爱荷华州大草原市的牛头犬获得本周一“最靓牛头犬”选美大赛的冠军，这项年度赛事拉开了第98届德雷克接力赛的序幕。德雷克接力赛是美国最古老、最具名望的田径赛事之一，今年将近有8000名运动员参加。

里格斯击败50名参赛“选手”，成功加冕。比赛的组织者说，比赛看重的是个性，而不是漂亮与否。

颁奖司仪多尔夫·普廉姆说：“对于一只牛头犬来说，漂亮与否是次要的。但牛头犬有自己的特点，它们长着一副让人一看就会被吓到的脸。但大家知道吗？它们是世界上最友好的牛头犬。”

很多人认为里格斯的主要竞争对手是上两届比赛冠军的后代汉克。上届比赛冠军汉纳对着里格斯一顿狂吠，但里格斯镇静自若，沉着优雅地缓缓走下了跑道。

里格斯的毛色褐白相间，身穿德雷克接力赛蓝白相间的队服。

里格斯的主人考德尔·米勒说：“它以自己的举止和风度获得最靓牛头犬称号。它很开心。”

里格斯则以摆POSE照相和大嚼狗骨头庆祝自己的胜利，面包屑和口水都弄到了冠军宝座上。

米勒说：“除了吃东西的时候，它都很低调。”