Hugh Hefner may be the luckiest man alive, but don't say that to the guy who gets to referee a women's beach volleyball gig featuring teams from Brazil and Italy during the Olympics in Beijing this month.
If there's one thing men love more than sport, it's watching the gorgeous women in it. And I mean this in a totally non-sexual way, mostly.
Unlike fashion models and the airheads in show business, these women are real - their medals a result of hours of getting down and dirty on the field.
Okay, so they are hot and sweaty and wear short, slinky outfits, but over the next eight pages you will learn that these women have gotten to wherever they are because of true grit, grace and perserverance.
The women in tennis lead the way. Long before Anna Kournikova sold the world sports bras telling us why "only the tennis ball should bounce on court", there was Gabriella Sabatini whose androgynous beauty endeared her to us and whose inability to get past Steffi Graf made us almost hate the German and mind you, she wasn't bad looking either.
The glamour angle in athletics was worked by Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner, who was quite a spectacle in the late 80s with her tousled hair and her one-legged leotards or 'athletic negligees' as she called them. But that was that.
However, the arrival of Kournikova in the 90s heralded a change in the way women in sport were viewed. Here was a blonde who was good looking enough to make people forget even today that she never won a single title of any repute.
And since then, it's been commonplace to see an athlete shed her kit for a glamour shoot; the latest is tennis player Ashley Harkerload who will jump out of the obscurity of her WTA ranking and on to the pages of Playboy this month.
And on that note and to celebrate the spirit of the summer Olympics this month, we present to you our round-up of the hottest women athletes today.
If there's one thing men love more than sport, it's watching the gorgeous women in it. And I mean this in a totally non-sexual way, mostly.
Unlike fashion models and the airheads in show business, these women are real - their medals a result of hours of getting down and dirty on the field.
Okay, so they are hot and sweaty and wear short, slinky outfits, but over the next eight pages you will learn that these women have gotten to wherever they are because of true grit, grace and perserverance.
The women in tennis lead the way. Long before Anna Kournikova sold the world sports bras telling us why "only the tennis ball should bounce on court", there was Gabriella Sabatini whose androgynous beauty endeared her to us and whose inability to get past Steffi Graf made us almost hate the German and mind you, she wasn't bad looking either.
The glamour angle in athletics was worked by Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner, who was quite a spectacle in the late 80s with her tousled hair and her one-legged leotards or 'athletic negligees' as she called them. But that was that.
However, the arrival of Kournikova in the 90s heralded a change in the way women in sport were viewed. Here was a blonde who was good looking enough to make people forget even today that she never won a single title of any repute.
And since then, it's been commonplace to see an athlete shed her kit for a glamour shoot; the latest is tennis player Ashley Harkerload who will jump out of the obscurity of her WTA ranking and on to the pages of Playboy this month.
And on that note and to celebrate the spirit of the summer Olympics this month, we present to you our round-up of the hottest women athletes today.
Daniela HantuchovaAge: 25
Sport: Tennis
Why we picked her: She has the longest legs in the history of long legs. The waif-like Slovak bombshell was the first serious contender for Anna Kournikova's title as 'the prettiest face in tennis' when she burst on the scene with a WTA title in 2002.
Blessed with great timing and good groundstrokes, Daniela climbed her way to no. 5 on the WTA ranking before bad form saw her ranking slip away.
She has represented her country at the Olympics and helped her team win the Federation Cup in 2003. Keep an eye out for her at Beijing. She can speak six languages, is a classically-trained pianist and looks a million bucks. Enough said.
Yelena IsinbayevaAge: 26
Sport: Athletics (pole vault)
Why we picked her: The brunette from Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) has 22 world records to her credit.
She is the first female pole vaulter to breach the 5m mark and has the grace and finesse of a gymnast thanks to her early years of gymnastics training.
Yelena is easily the most accomplished athlete of her generation, she won the pole vault gold at Athens and is the best bet for this year's gold at Beijing. And to top it all, she looks good enough to be in the movies.
Ana IvanovicAge: 20
Sport: Tennis
Why we picked her: We only remember three occasions in the history of women's tennis when the no. 1 ranking has been held by a gorgeous woman - Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova and now Ana Ivanovic as we went to press.
The tall Serbian's girl-next-door charm and attitude has earned her a multitude of male fans.
With a Grand Slam victory at the French Open this year and a possible shot at an Olympic gold in Beijing, it's no surprise that her country has even put her pretty figure on Serbia's postage stamps.
Danica PatrickAge: 26
Sport: Motor racing
Why we picked her: A good-looking woman in a tight jumpsuit behind the wheel of a fast car. Why wouldn't men love a woman like Danica Patrick?
This little petrolhead from Wisconsin was a karting champion when she was 10, moved up the motor racing chain as a teen before landing a drive in the famed IndyCar Series - she was the only woman in the league in 2005 and won Rookie of the Year.
In April this year, Danica became the first woman to win an IndyCar race,winning the Indy Japan 300 race. Her petite good looks and popularity has seen her sizzle on the pages of FHM and Sports Illustrated swimsuit special.
Anna RawsonAge: 27
Sport: Golf
Why we picked her: Thank God for Anna Rawson. Every time they broadcast that sport for old fogies and social climbers on television, there's someone not changing channels hoping to get a glimpse of the woman they refer to as 'Sharapova of Golf'.
Originally from Adelaide, Australia, but now living in California, Anna was a model before she turned pro in 2004. What we really dig about the blue-eyed blonde is that she can step off the pages of Vogue and on to the greens of the LPGA Tour with equal ease.
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