Kane Young-Hiss, Age 14 from Berthoud, CO Wins The National Odor-Eaters® Rotten Sneaker Contest® In Its 40th Anniversary Celebration

NEW YORK, NY (March 25, 2015) / PR Newswire / — The National Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest celebrated its 40th anniversary with a fan-fare of festivities in New York City today. The competition that tests just how offensive sneakers can get, culminated with the crowning of the 40th pair of most odorous soles in the nation.  Ready to be judged were seven finalists, ages six to fifteen, from across the country.  They gathered at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in Times Square wearing the decrepit and redolent rubber-soles that won them regional recognition.  Only one competitor’s sneakers were declared the stinkiest, and they belonged to 14 year old Kane Young-Hiss from Berthoud, CO.
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With a four decade history, the Odor-Eaters® Rotten Sneaker Contest® is the ultimate test of just how dirty and stinky sneakers can get when they're part of an active kid’s life…playing outdoors, splashing through puddles, slogging through mud and more. Sneakers are judged on the interior and exterior conditions of the shoe, and most importantly odor, by a professional panel that includes NASA “Master Sniffer" George Aldrich, Chemical Specialist for NASA space missions, and Rachel Herz, Ph.D., an expert and author on the psychology of smell.  Joining the expert judges this year to commemorate the 40th celebration were several past Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest winners including Robert Scruton from Atlanta, GA (1988 winner), Brian Paton from Barre, VT (1989 and 1998 winner), Joshua Boothe from Salt Lake City, UT (2008 winner) and Jordan Armstrong from Las Cruces, NM (2014 winner).

This year, Kane Young-Hiss was the grand prize winner of $2,500, out-stinking other contestants from Wasilla, AK; Warrenville, IL; Flint, MI; Glendale, AZ; Las Cruces, NM and Bristol, CT.  The champion confessed that his sneakers got dirty and smelly because “I bike and hike often, have worn them through mud and also through chicken, pigeon, goose and dove poop, and I also don’t wear socks.”

He also received an additional two-night stay in New York City, tickets to the Broadway Show ALADDIN, the Golden Sneaker Award, and a supply of Odor-Eaters products to kick out the odor from his new sneakers.  Kane’s rotten sneakers will also be enshrined in the Odor-Eaters “Hall of Fumes.”

What makes the contest such a fun and memorable event for the past 40 years? According to 1988 past winner, Robert Scruton from Atlanta, GA, “Many people go through life waiting for their five minutes of fame, I was fortunate to cross that bridge early in life. When I was 8 years old, friends at school invited me to join them at a Rotten Sneaker Contest in our hometown. I, like most boys growing up, had a pair of tired old play shoes worth entering. I’ll never forget the amazement when they announced my name as the winner. In a moment I became king for a day and an Odor-Eaters user for life!”

For more information about the Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest or Odor-Eaters products, visit www.odor-eaters.com or the Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest Facebook page.

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