On October 20, 2001, The Carolina Hedgehog Society hosted its second International Hedgehog Olympic Gymboree as part of Paws in the Park sponsored by the John Ancrum SPCA. There was a small field of 5 competitor hedgehogs ready to strut their stuff in a number of events, including the costume contest (which didn't count for medal standings), sprint, shot put, garden slalom, hurdles and floor exercises.

Before IHOG had even started, Larkspur was tackling the hurdles. Since this was her first time at IHOG, she figured she needed all the practice she could get. It's a good thing we got these pictures of her in the hurdles before the event, because during the event she went too fast for us to get any pictures. But more on that later...

The costume contest came first in the hopes the hedgehogs wouldn't be tired out and uncooperative. For the most part, this strategy worked. Skeezix's skeeterbug costume was so popular the other hedgies just had to try it on. Would the real skeeterbug please step forward?

Next each competitor performed her events. Knarla went first and did everything with such blazing speed we have no pictures of her competing to show off. Knarla was our gold medal winner, just racking up the 1st place ribbons. But even when it wasn't her turn, she never stopped entertaining the crowd, even running up a man's arm inside his sleeve in a brazen attempt to tickle him. Knarla "helped" set up the floor exercises arena by rearranging the pre-determined set-up for the hedgehogs interaction. Was she trying to make it easier for her fellow competitors or just trying to sabotage them? Look at that innocent face.

Next up was Larkspur who proved that being the youngest and the smallest competitor wasn't an insurmountable obstacle. Despite her spotty track record with the ball, Larkspur was in top form. However, the road to the silver medal was not without its bumps. "Wrong Way" Larkspur had a little trouble staying on target in the sprint. She went back and forth and attempted numerous times to make it off the track.

But once she got moving in the right direction, those little legs moved so fast, it didn't even look like she was touching the ground. Larkspur finished the sprint in 1 minute and 15 seconds, giving her second place behind Knarla.

Want to see more of Larkspur and IHOG? Click here.