Girls Who Are Really Fast: Kristi Leskinen vs. Victoria Pendleton

27 Oct

1. Kristi Leskinen

Kristi has really come on the scene in the past 5 years, heating up the slopes on an international level with her freestyle skiing. She’s finished as high as 3rd in the X Games, and is the picture of a perfect doll in her lingerie shoots for Maxim and FHM.

We had the excellent opportunity to pick Kristi’s mind… here it goes:

Growing up, you couldn’t have dreamed of being one of the worlds best female freeskiiers. The sport didn’t exist. What did you dream of when you were young?
From I really young age, I always dreamed about being the best at whatever I was doing. Soccer, Swimming, Basketball, Wakeboarding, Skiing…

Get on the soap box. Tell us why freeskiing should be an Olympic sport!

Wow! There are so many reasons. To explain it all I would have to get into some Olympic politics, but I don’t have the energy to make that argument right now. So my first reason is the number of people around the world that participate in our sport. There are currently a couple ski events in the Olympics whose numbers world wide can be measured by hundreds. Freeskings pulls in numbers many many times that. It’s also a new and excited event that is only going to get larger in years to come. Snowboarding was the most watched event at the last winter Olympics and I believe that Freeskiing is even more exciting to the average person. I think it would bring great ratings to networks around the world, and add to the winter Olympics excitement each year.

You were the first women ever to pull rodeo 720. How long would it take a novice skier to learn that?

Depends on their intelligence level… How many risks and crashes are they willing to take? People look at a trick like that and think it’s crazy, but it’s all a stepping stone and if you work up to it the right way it should come easily.

Rumor has it, you could have gone pro as a wake boarder. Why trade the nice life in the sun and on a boat for the freezing temperatures of the slopes?
I ask myself that every summer when I go to Florida to visit my friends Corey Bradley and Keith Lyman. If you ask anyone that knows me they will tell you I hate the cold. So why did I pick skiing. I guess ultimately it wasn’t a choice. One year I was traveling competing in both and leaning towards wakeboarding. Then the next year I was in New Zealand all summer skiing. I found skiing to be more exciting, I worked at it longer, and it has more options. I really miss wakeboarding though, it’s my happy place. My favorite place to be in the world is on a boat with my friends.

Hows the water skiing skills? Tell me you can barefoot!
I could barefoot from a boom when I was younger, but I haven’t done it is years. I’m pretty fluent in everything boat. My family has owned Yough Lake Marina all my life, and now I’m part owner. I grew up cleaning boats, pumping gas at the docks and sleeping on my house boat every weekend. I love the water.

Ok, this question might offend Gretchen Bleiler, but tell us, why is Skiing cooler than snowboarding?
I have enormous respect for snowboarding. All my best friends are snowboarders, including Gretchen Bleiler. I always joke that in my next life I will come back as a Snowboarder/Surfer, instead of a skier and wakeboarder. I think that the average person understands skiing much better, so they are better able to appreciate it. When someone from Alabama sees a trick on skis it’s more exciting to them than the same trick on a snowboard, and in the end skiers can go bigger!

Women’s sports show tremendous success when the sport becomes sexy. We have asked multiple contestants about their roll as being the eye candy of their sport. Do you feel a connection to Anna Kournikova or Natalie Gulbis, 2 people that introduced sex appeal to their respective sports?

No… I relate with people because I’m interested in what they do and what they have achieved. I respect what women have accomplished in their sports, and the amazing careers they have made for themselves, but I never intend or intended to bring sex appeal to my sport. It’s happened a bit by chance and I am grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had, but I’m a T-Shirt and jeans kind of girl and I never set out to have it any other way. I don’t think it’s good to be a famous athlete because you are a model, but to be a famous model because you’re an athlete is something anyone could be proud of.

It would be understated to say your sport is taxing on the body. To date, what was your worst wreck?

I had a hemorrhage on my brain a couple years ago and had to spend a night in ICU. That was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, because I was conscious at first and new exactly what was going on. I didn’t pass out until an hour or so after I hit my head. My headache just kept getting worse and worse and I was aware the whole time as I lost function, slurring my speech and couldn’t walk. Scary…

Who takes a worse beating, NFL runningback or X Games skier?
I would say the NFL runningback. They are taking hits from all angles. Though, I do think that any one crash on skis could be many times worse than an NFL tackle. While we only have the ground to deal with the risks on any one jump are much higher than that of any one tackle.

You had a hot photo shoot for FHM. An extreme athlete has to always be asking themselves, could I have pushed myself harder. With that said, InGameNow would like to offer you the chance to do the first nude shot in our websites history. Any interest?
Not in a million years or for a million dollars. Thanks for the offer though.

We are interviewing fellow skier Sarah Burke. Do you have any embarrassing story’s we can bring up?
Nope. She is both amazing and beautiful, InGameNow is very lucky to have the honor to include her in this.

So, we ask all of the athletes this question, what type of athlete do you find sexiest?
Action Sports Athletes!

Finally, who is your pick for World’s Hottest Athlete?
No Idea, there are so many!

Any Sponsors you would like to thank?
Monster Energy, Oakley, Go211.com, Giro, Dakine, and Mammoth Mountain, CA

8. Victoria Pendleton

This Brit was an Olympic gold medalist in track cycling at Beijing. Despite all the intense training that goes into cycling, Victoria loves to let her hair down and feel girly–and she made news when she posed with her bike and an elegant black dress.