Queen of Sports

Nastia Liukin At Super Bowl XLV

Olympic gold medal gymnast Nastia Liukin was spotted at Super Bowl XLV at Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. Nastia pictured above with her Dad grew up in Plano, Texas after immigrating from Moscow, Russia when she was two years old.

Photo: Twitter

Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White Signs Deal With BFGoodrich

Gold medal winning Olympic snowboarder Shaun White has signed a multi-year endorsement deal with BFGoodrich Tires this past week. The deal comes just in time for the Winter X Games in Aspen this weekend.

Shaun has earned 15 medals in the Winter X Games, making him the most successful athlete to participate in the games.

As part of the deal, BFGoodrich has created a series of webisodes featuring the snowboarder. You can check them out here.

BFGoodrich President Rick Harrow had this to say about Shaun and his marketability, “he excels in both a Summer and Winter extreme sport, is a successful Olympian, and crosses over to ‘mainstream marketing’ in various ways.”

Congrats on the new deal Shaun!

Photo: BFGoodrich

GQ’s 25 Coolest Athletes Ever

GQ’s February issue features their list of the 25 coolest athletes ever. The U.S. editions mix it up with nine different covers that feature some of the athletes that made the list, from Tom Brady to Michael Jordan. Some of the more surprising choices on the list were Allan Iverson, and Tim Lincecum. The entire list included Muhammad Ali, Mario Andretti, Jean-Claude Killy, Evel Knievel, Arthur Ashe, George Best, Peter Maravich, Bjorn Borg, Joe Namath, Arnold Palmer, Pele, Jim Brown, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Gary Player, Walt Frazier, Derek Sanderson, Bob Gibson, Kelly Slater, Kenny Stabler, Bo Jackson, and Ted Turner.

Photo: GQ.tumblr.com

Johnny Weir On Lopez Tonight

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Johnny Weir was a featured guest last night on George Lopez‘s talk show Lopez Tonight. He talked about his book, Welcome to My World, his book tour and the reactions he got from truckers at truck stops along the way, and the message of his book to dream big. He looked great on the show, wearing gold glittered Chistian Louboutin brogues and a red blazer and pompadour hairstyle. At the end of the interview, they swapped clothing styles and Weir came out in a traditional suit and tie and Lopez came out in a feathery spandex skating outfit. Check out the fun interview above.

Johnny Weir Comes Out Of The Closet In His New Book

In Johnny Weir‘s new book, “Welcome To My World”, the flamboyant figure skater admits to being gay. While it may not come as a surprise to anyone, it was a question he continued to dismiss in the media. Weir was never a fan of labels, and says in an excerpt from his book published in People Magazine, that being gay “is the smallest part of what makes me me.” While he never felt he was in the closet, he said he decided to “come out” now because, “With people killing themselves and being scared into the closet, I hope that even just one person can gain strength from my story.”

Weir’s autobiography comes out on Tuesday, January 11th. He will begin his book tour in New York on that date.

Photo: Bob Charlotte  / PR Photos

Olympic Gold Medalist Rulon Gardner On New Season Of The Biggest Loser

Rulon Gardner has won two Olympic medals in wrestling: gold in 2000 and bronze in 2004. In the last few years, however, he let himself go. He weighed in during Tuesday night’s season premiere of The Biggest Loser at 474 pounds. He is appearing on the show with his friend Justin Pope who owns the Rulon Gardner Elite Training Center  in Logan, Utah with him. Pope weighed in the first day at 365 pounds. By the end of the first taped show, Gardner lost 32 pounds and Pope lost 27. The pair are on their way to a successful season on the show.

Photo: RulonGardner.com

Transworld Sports Piece On Nastia Liukin

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Check out this look into the transformation of Nastia Liukin‘s career following the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. She talks about her clothing line for JC Penney, Supergirl by Nastia, and the possibility of her returning to compete in the Olympics in London in 2012.

Athlete Sighting: Nastia Liukin

Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Nastia Liukin has been spotted with her family in Vail, Colorado over the holiday.

The gymnast is pictured above with her mother before hitting the ski slopes. And below she was snapped with her mom and dad at the local out door ice rink.

Perhaps she asked rumored boyfriend, Olympic gold medal winning ice skater Evan Lysacek for some ice skating tips!

Photos: Twitter

Top Athletes Of 2010 Countdown: #7 Lindsey Vonn

One of our personal favorite athletes of 2010 is Olympic gold medal winning skier Lindsey Vonn.

Lindsey became the first American woman to win the downhill gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. With her Olympic gold and bronze medals, 36 World Cup wins in four disciplines (downhill, Super G, slalom and super combined) and two World Championship gold medals (plus two World Championship silver medals), she has become the most successful American woman skier in history.

Since her wins in Vancouver, Lindsey has picked up some big time endorsement deals with Rolex, Red Bull, Oakley Eyewear, participated in a Milk Mustache campaign and modeled for Audi Magazine.

She also appeared on the front of the Wheaties cereal box, had a run at Vail Resort named after her, made an appearance on her favorite television show Law & Order, was named one of Maxim’s Hot 100, attended the 2010 White House Correspondents Dinner and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of 2010.

Congrats on such a great year Lindsey!

To check out the other athletes who have made our countdown so far, click here.

Photos: Twitter

Prince Albert To Attend The Grand Opening Celebration Of Art Of The Olympians In Florida

Art of the Olympians is a non-profit organization that promotes arts and sports throughout the globe in an effort to “advance the world towards better global citizenry.” In recognition of its founding, the organization will be hosting a grand opening celebration in early March 2011 in Fort Myers, Florida where the organization’s museum and gallery resides. Prince Albert II of Monaco is slated to arrive to show his support. Prince Albert himself is a five-time Olympian in the bobsleigh event and big supporter of the arts and sports. His mother, Princess Grace, or Grace Kelly, was of course an Academy Award winning actress who is fondly remembered as a renowned patron of the arts.

Prince Albert spoke on the importance of the arts and sport, saying, “Sport and the arts are perhaps the greatest two fields available to leaders who want to affect the lives of an entire population.” None could be truer.