The Complete History Of Athletes Posing For Playboy

Month/NSFW Link: September 1986
Sport: Bodybuilding
Athletic Claim To Fame: In 1994, eight years after appearing in Playboy, Armstrong announced she had AIDS, instantly becoming one of the most famous public faces of the disease. She became a professional bodybuilder in the 2000s, and continues to be a spokesperson for AIDS awareness.

Month/NSFW Link: November 1997 Russian edition
Sport: Gymnastics
Athletic Claim To Fame: Other women on this list are positively know for being "Divas." Not so with Khorkina. She was a gold and silver medalist in the Olympics over her career, and even when she lost, she maintained that she was the Olympic champion.

Month/NSFW Link: December 1998
Sport: Figure Skating
Athletic Claim To Fame: This two-time Olympic gold medalist is one of the most famous Playboy models ever. She was only the second person at the time to sell-out an issue, the only other being the premiere issue with Marilyn Monroe on it.

Month/NSFW Link: April 1999 and March 2007 German Edition
Sport: Figure Skating
Athletic Claim To Fame: Figure skating is just her main focus. She also does ballet, boxes, and acts in her spare time. In the '90s she dominated across Europe, winning multiple medals in multiple countries.

Month/NSFW Link: 1999
Sport: Ice Dancing
Athletic Claim To Fame: A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Pasha was involved in a 2008 incident in which someone tried to drug her with GHB. Sounds like she needs to hang with some of these MMA girls.

Month/NSFW Link: November 1999
Sport: Boxing
Athletic Claim To Fame: As the only pure boxer on our list, Mia made her pro boxing debut on Valentine's Day in '97 and knocked out her opponent in the first round in 54 seconds. How's that for drop dead gorgeous? In her 11-page pictorial in Playboy, she made sure that everything maintained a boxing theme, so that everybody knew she was a fighter first and foremost.

Month/NSFW Link: November 2000 and January 2002
Sport: Wrestling
Athletic Claim To Fame: Known as "Chyna" in the wrestling world, she was dubbed the "Ninth Wonder of the World" in the WWF. She can look good, but anybody that competes with men still scares us a little.

Month/NSFW Link: January 2001
Sport: Volleyball
Athletic Claim To Fame: Is there anybody that has a nicer set of legs than Gabrielle Reece? We guess that's what happens when you're 6'3". As a champion volleyball player and well-known workout instructor, Reece is the epitome of being in healthy shape. In 1989 she was named by Elle as one of the five hottest women in the world.

Month/NSFW Link: May 2002
Sport: Fitness Expert
Athletic Claim To Fame: Kiana might not be labeled to a specific sport, but as an award-winning fitness expert, she's as athletic as anybody. According to her website, her fitness show "Kiana's Flex Appeal" became the No. 1 workout show on ESPN, and she is internationally known in over 100 countries. If we looked that good, we'd probably be that well-known too. We can dream, right?

Month/NSFW Link: September 2002
Sport: Football
Athletic Claim To Fame: Anita is not a gymnast, or a tennis player, or a volleyball player. She plays football. She has quarterbacked for two women's pro leagues on the Miami Fury and the the Florida Stingrays. These days she's spending her time as a sportscaster. Who wouldn't want to talk sports with her?

Month/NSFW Link: Playboy Special Editions: Voluptuous Vixens September 2002, Lingerie January/February 2003, September/October 2003, July/August 2004
Sport: Mixed Martial Arts and Kickboxing
Athletic Claim To Fame: LaTasha is said to have taken up Muay Thai after her house was robbed. We'd totally talk more shit if we had an ass-kicking girlfriend like her. But since we don't...nice shirt!

Month/NSFW Link: May 2003 and March 2004
Sport: Wrestling
Athletic Claim To Fame: Torrie is one of few that has had the honor of gracing more than one Playboy cover. When she was just a fitness competitor, she beat out all those hot aliens and won Miss Galaxy in 1998. She later became known for her time wrestling in the WWE, WWF, and WCW. If you're really that obsessed with her or just want your girlfriend to look like her, you have limited time to buy her most famous bikini ever!

Month/NSFW Link: March 2004
Sport: Wrestling
Athletic Claim To Fame: Though she was the sixteenth WWE Women's Champion, she was the first of the WWE Divas to pose nude for Playboy. We'd say that makes her a trendsetter.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004
Sport: High Jump
Athletic Claim To Fame: This four-time Olympian rules the high jump. She is a six-time U.S. Outdoor champion and five-time U.S. Indoor champ. In Playboy's "The Women of the Olympics" issue, she led the way on the cover.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004
Sport: Pole Vault
Athletic Claim To Fame: Sauer missed the Olympics in 2000, but became the third American woman to break the 15-foot barrier in 2001. 15 feet? Yikes, we can't compete. Because we don't pole vault. #getyourmindoutthegutter

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004
Sport: Swimming
Athletic Claim To Fame: A Berkeley-grad, Cope has a silver medal from the 2004 Olympics and once held the world record in the 50 meter breaststroke. Hot, smart, and fast? #rollonyoubears

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004

Sport: Track and Field

Athletic Claim to Fame: Vermeulen, a 1,500-meter specialist told the Toronto Globe and Mail, "This thing is done to celebrate women and women at the Olympics, and it's not about boobs or butts." So, to all you haters that think this is demoralizing to women, relax and celebrate with the rest of us!

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004
Sport: Track and Field
Athletic Claim To Fame: She's a two-time gold medal sprinter (in the World Championships, but still); she's also the hottest woman named Pintusevich-Block from the former Soviet bloc. Scratch that, hottest Pintusevich-Block ever.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004
Sport: Pole Vault
Athletic Claim To Fame: Juhasz starred in Playboy's September '04 Women of the Olympics, posing with her tool of the trade, a 15-foot pole. Sometimes we can't help ourselves.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004
Sport: Long Jump
Athletic Claim To Fame: Though Ineta won two triple jump NCAA championships while studying at Nebraska, her best finish in the Olympics was thirteenth. We think we'll get over it.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2004
Sport: Track and Field
Athletic Claim To Fame: Okay, so this three-time Olympian was caught using performance-enhancing drugs. Does that really affect the way you look at her? As long she doesn't become uber muscular, who are we to judge?

Month/NSFW Link: April 2005
Sport: Wrestling
Athletic Claim To Fame: A fan of The Undertaker growing up, Christy was a member of WWE from 2004-2005, before joining Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Thankfully, she posed for Playboy in 2005, before she started totally action wrestling nonstop.

Month/NSFW Link: January 2006
Sport: Sportscaster
Athletic Claim To Fame: Okay, so she's not really an athlete, but she reports on them! Are you really going to complain?

Month/NSFW Link: April 2006
Sport: Wrestling
Athletic Claim To Fame: She's the original Go Daddy Girl (and hotter than Danica in our opinion) and a former WWE Women's Champ. As a Packers fan, she's loving life about as much as we love looking at her pictures.

Month/NSFW Link: November 2006 Argentinian Edition
Sport: Tennis
Athletic Claim To Fame: Victoria had a brief stint as a doubles player before falling to injury that eventually forced her to retire. We don't think it was a major setback, as she soon found her forte in modeling. She caused a huge controversy with her Playboy shoot that was done on the iconic Roland Garros tennis court.

Month/NSFW Link: April 2007
Sport: Wrestling
Athletic Claim To Fame: Yes, posing in Playboy is an acceptable way to get back at the mean girls who used to tease you. Ashley was famously the butt of Vince's Devils, Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle, and Trish Stratus, but got her revenge with a pictorial and appearance on Survivor: China. But don't lie, you stopped reading when you saw the words "Ashley" and "butt" in the same sentence, right?

Month/NSFW Link: July 2007
Sport: Swimming
Athletic Claim To Fame: Beard is not somebody opposing swimmers want to see lined up next to them on the blocks. She participated in the Olympics in '96, '00, '04, and '08 and won two golds, three silvers, and a bronze medal.

Month/NSFW Link: April 2008
Sport: Wrestling
Athletic Claim To Fame: Maria played volleyball, basketball, and softball in high school before becoming a WWE wrestler in 2005. She also released her debut album as a singer-songwriter last year. A beautiful singing wrestler? You can't make this stuff up! Oh wait...

Month/NSFW Link: August 2008
Sport: Tennis
Athletic Claim To Fame: What guy doesn't watch women's tennis for the cuties in the short skirts? Ashely finally made every man's dream come true when she became the first professional tennis player to pose for Playboy.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2008
Sport: Sailing
Athletic Claim To Fame: Petra is the first (the three others are next) of the four-cover German issue that was released in '08, and she helps make it one of our favorite issues ever. She's guided her way to three different Olympics with her sailing skills. We have a couple other ideas on how to use those ropes, though.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2008
Sport: Field Hockey
Athletic Claim To Fame: Katharina quickly wipes away any preconceived notions about the world of women's field hockey with her killer looks and by the way she holds that stick.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2008
Sport: Canoeing
Athletic Claim To Fame: We might not know it here in the states, but canoeing is huge over in Germany. Nicole's gold medal at the 2008 Olympics helped earn her win "Sportswoman of the Year" honors in Hesse.

Month/NSFW Link: September 2008
Sport: Judo
Athletic Claim To Fame: With some of the sexiest (NSFW) pictures in this entire list, Romy skips all the acting like the other wrestlers we've mentioned, and tactically kicks people's ass with her black belt in Judo.

Month/NSFW Link: November 2008
Sport: Ring Girl and Sportscaster
Athletic Claim To Fame: Former ring girls count as athletes, right? Maybe? A little? Okay, maybe not, but she is involved in sport and is far too hot to leave off the list. These days she is the host of UFC All Access on Spike TV.

Month/NSFW Link: November 2008
Sport: Figure Skating
Athletic Claim To Fame: Not only has Maria won the Russian figure skating championships six times, but she's also killed the competition in Europe and at the Worlds as well.

Month/NSFW Link: November 2010
Sport: Ring Girl
Athletic Claim To Fame: There are exceptions for everything. Though she's not technically a pro athlete, Arianny is one our exceptions for this list as one of the hottest MMA ring girls we have ever laid eyes on. Plus, she's been involved in athletics her entire life with cheer, dance, and gymnastics. He first modeling gig came at the tender age of four for a car seat company.