At 6-foot-1, she has a beautiful face and long blonde hair and is instantly
recognizable to lots of sports fans.
At 6-foot-1, she has a beautiful face and long blonde hair and is instantly
recognizable to lots of sports fans.
If one does not know Jennie Finch yet, the Olympics should change all of that.
Finch is the standout pitcher for the U.S. Olympic softball team. She throws
the ball 70 miles per hour and, in college, set an NCAA record by winning 60
straight games.
Her popularity is growing quickly. In a poll on ESPNs Web site for 2003s
“hottest female athlete,” Finch trounced Anna Kournikova from the
world of tennis.
But while Finch may be a sex symbol to some, that is not an image she promotes.
Indeed, she rejected a lucrative offer to pose nude for Playboy magazine.
“I dont feel that there are any pros to posing nude,” Finch
writes on her Web site. “No amount of money could influence me. My morals
and standards come first. I am here to be a role model for young girls and show
them what really counts, … and that is what is on the inside.”
Convictions like that spring from Finchs Christian faith. “Yes,
I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; He is my Lord and savior,”
Finch writes. “My faith has affected my career greatly. I would not be
who I am today. God gave me this talent to use, and he helps me daily to continue
to pursue his will. He has blessed me with the great parents, great friends,
awesome teammates, so many great coaches, a great strength coach and so much
more.”
With the allure Finch offers, corporations are hungry to enlist her as a sponsor
and will be increasingly interested after the Olympics. A USA Today story cited
a poll that ranked Finch second in Olympic marketability behind swimmer Michael
Phelps. She already has about $400,000 of endorsements, and some experts say
the Olympics could triple the figure.
But Finch is not completely thrilled about the idea of being recognized solely
because of her good looks. In fact, she is not crazy about being recognized
at all.
“When you train six to seven hours a day to be the best in your sport,
you dont want that to be overlooked,” she said in a USA Today news
article. “I dont train for my looks. … Its not my goal for
Jennie Finch to be a household name. My goal is to win the gold medal.”
(BP)