10. Michelle Wie (Hawaii, USA) , Golf - A golf prodigy, Michelle Wie brings the same kind of excitement to the LPGA that Tiger Woods brings to the male brand of golf. She is now a professional American golfer, who has gained attention for her many attempts to make a cut at a PGA Tour event. In 2006, she was named in a Time magazine article, “one of 100 people who shape our world.” She has been accepted to Stanford University and has said she will be enrolling in fall 2007.
By the end of 2006, her first full year as a professional, she had missed the cut in 11 out of 12 tries against men, and remained winless in all 33 professional women’s tournaments she had entered, the last 9 as a professional.
7. Tanith Belbin (USA/Canada) , Figure Skating - Perhaps the most beautiful skater in world competition, Tanith Belbin is a talented ice dancer who partners with Ben Agosto to give the United States an elite team on the world scene. Born in Canada, Tanith began skating at an early age while also modeling and acting. The ice was her true calling, however, though her multi-talent will surely make her one of the most popular figures in skating in coming years.
During December 2006, Cohen announced that she needed “a little down time from competing” and that she will not defend her US Figure Skating Championship title in 2007. She again stressed that her “major goals” are the 2009 world figure skating championships and the 2010 Olympics; “I know I want to be in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics.”
8. Natalie Coughlin (USA) , Swimming - One of the most well-rounded swimmers ever, Natalie Coughlin combines power, speed and beauty. One of the poster faces of the 2004 USA Olympic team, Natalie bought pride to her nation with her performance, she won two gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze. Natalie Coughlin is the first woman to break a minute in the 100-meter backstroke. In all, Coughlin broke three world, seven American and three NCAA records during the 2002-03 season.
9. Sasha Cohen (California, USA) , Figure Skating - Born on October 26, 1984, in Westwood, California, Sasha Cohen is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 U.S. National Champion and 2006 Olympic silver medalist. Sasha Cohen made her mark as the female skater to watch in the future. With her porcelain doll beauty and her daring skating style, Sasha defines feminine grace on the ice.
At the Turin Olympics 2006, Belbin and Agosto won silver in ice dancing, the highest Olympic result of any American pair in the discipline, and the first American ice dancers to win an Olympic medal in 30 years. They went on to win the bronze at Worlds.
6. Gretchen Bleiler(Ohio, USA) , Snowboarding - Gretchen Bleiler (born on April 10, 1981 in Toledo, Ohio) is a professional halfpipe snowboarder and pioneer. She is said to be one of the most accomplished female snowboarders in the world. Gretchen aspired to compete in the Olympic Games from a very young age, and found her passion in Snowboarding at age 11 (1992). She has been riding ever since, became professional in 1996 and is currently recognized as a role model and pioneer in the sport. In the pre Olympic season she won four of the five US Olympic halfpipe qualifiers and is also a two time X Games gold medalist.
5. Malia Jones (Hawaii, USA) , Surfing - Malia Jones was born on March 27, 1977, in the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. She is of Hawaiin, Spanish & Filipino descent. Malia began surfing at the age of three when her mom put her on a surfboard. She began to compete competively in her early teens and by the age of 15 she won the US Amateur Surfing Championship. While competing, Surfing Magazine spotted her and asked her to model and thus a second career was born. Since then, she as appeared in over a dozen magazines including being named as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine and one of America’s 10 Sexiest Athletes by Esquire.
4. Amy Acuff (USA) , Track & Field - She is a aggressive high jump competitor, competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics as a member of USA Track and Field and is a three-time Olympian. Her personal best is 2.01m, which she achieved in Zurich on 2003-08-15. Acuff is also known for her career as a model, including multiple cover appearances in Esquire, Maxim, FHM and Playboy.
3. Anna Kournikova (Russia) , Tennis - Retired Russian professional tennis player and model. Russian-born Anna Kournikova left Moscow at the age of 9 to come toNick Bollettieri’s Tennis Academy in Florida, USA, was the world’s topped-ranked junior at the end of 1995. She became one of the best known tennis players worldwide, even among those who do not follow the game. At the peak of her fame, fans looking for images of Kournikova made her name (or misspellings of it) one of the most common search strings on Google.
2. Gabrielle Reece (USA) , Volleyball - A professional volleyball player and former fashion model. Reece was born in La Jolla, California in January 6, 1970. She accepted a volleyball scholarship from Florida State University (FSU), inducted into the Florida State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997. Since graduation she has played on professional volleyball tours.
Reece has also appeared on the covers of several magazines including Shape, Women’s Sports & Fitness, Outside, ELLE, and Life. She also appeared on the cover of Playboy, with an accompanying pictorial, in January 2001. As an Elite model, she could command a per day rate of US$10,000.
1. Maria Sharapova (Russia),
Tennis - Russian professional tennis player and model, born in 19 April 1987. She is a former World No. 1 ranked player and, as of January 8, 2007, is the second ranked female tennis player in the world. As of the end of 2006, she was the world’s highest-paid female athlete.
