Shown here in a promotional photo for sponsor Under Armour,
Olympic ski racing contender Lindsey Vonn is featured in
the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue released
on Tuesday. Photo: Under Armour, Inc.
When U.S. Ski Team member Lindsey Vonn posed wearing her racing suit in a tucked position on the cover of last week's Sports Illustrated Olympic preview issue, some critics said the photo was literally too racy. Vonn's appearance in the magazine's annual swimsuit issue, released online and in print Tuesday, is likely to heat up the debate.
In the photographs, Vonn, 25, is wearing various bikinis made by Under Armour, one of her sponsors, and by other swimwear designers such as Betsey Johnson and Ralph Lauren. In several shots, Vonn appears topless and holds a strategically placed fur shawl.
Part of the photo shoot took place against a summer backdrop in Whistler Blackcomb, Canada, site of the upcoming Winter Olympics. Reminscent of a heli-ski scene, other photos were taken in the snow at higher elevations with a helicopter in the background.
Vonn joins tennis players Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams, along with auto racer Danica Patrick, as female athletes featured on a Sports Illustrated cover and in the swimsuit edition. Vonn is unique in that her appearances were in back-to-back weeks.
Vonn's 'exposure' means exposure for sponsors
The shoot took place last July, prior to Vonn's switch from Rossignol to Head skis in September. She appears in several shots with Rossignol skis, but the logos have been airbrushed out of the photos for the most part. However, the behind-the-scenes online video (available below) does show the Rossignol logos.
Model Brooklyn Decker is featured on the cover of the Sports
Illustrated swimsuit issue. The line, "Lindsey Vonn Melts
Mountains," teases the pictorial inside of the Olympic skier.
Photo: AP/ Sports Illustrated, Walter Iooss Jr.
While the timing did not work out for Head skis, other companies endorsed by Vonn do show up in the photos. Along with swimwear by Under Armour, another of Vonn's sponsors, Red Bull, receives a subtle plug in several photos. The energy drink company's logo appears on Vonn's hat in a few shots. Wearing an Under Armour jacket, Vonn is also holding a bottle with a Red Bull logo in one of the online photos.
Click here for Vonn skiing slideshow
Bidez, Schnoor, Teter also appear
Along with Vonn in the "Olympic Stars" section of the swimsuit pictorials, snowboarders Clair Bidez and Hannah Teter are also featured. Aerial skier Lacy Schnoor is the fourth and final athlete in the Olympic section.
While Bidez, 22, did not actually make the 2010 U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team, Teter, 23, is expected to compete in the snowboarding halfpipe. Teter is the defending gold medalist in the event.
Schnoor, 24, was one of four women named to the U.S. Olympic Freestyle Ski Team for aerials. A former gymnast, the native of Utah will be competing in her first Olympics.
Does the appearance of Vonn and the other athletes help or hurt the image of women's snowsports? Your comments are encouraged below.
Lindsey Vonn Swimsuit Video from Sports Illustrated
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