The One-Shoe Decree
Read the storyNew regulations regarding sportswear were imposed on every women's sport: every female athlete is required to have one bare foot while the other remains covered. Additionally, the stands must be empty and the playing fields or stadiums small. This was decreed by a billionaire artist who took over women's sports to realize her own twisted vision—driven by the fact that she herself wears only one shoe to show off her bare foot and the foot-care products she markets. Her corporations, which dominate the women's foot-care industry, seized control of women's sports; they offered female athletes high salaries—which the athletes accepted—but in exchange, they must now compete in every sport wearing only one shoe. In a sledding event (filmed from the woman's POV), we see covered feet; an interesting technique is used where, once the woman gains sufficient speed, the shoe and sock slide off to reveal a bare foot while the other remains covered, with the shoe and sock tethered to the sled so they aren't lost. Another change involves the tracks, which are long; the coach maintains contact with the athlete, while the athlete communicates using her foot and toes.