Poll : Sexiest Woman of the 2014 OIympic Curling Tournament in Sochi

The 2014 women's Olympic curling tournament gets underway today in Sochi.  The all-Scottish Great Britain team led by Eve Muirhead are the favourites for the gold medal - but who will be crowned as the sexiest woman of the competition, succeeding the 2010 winner Natalie Nicholson? I suspect the contenders may include Eve Muirhead herself, the Russian skip Anna Sidorova, and the Swiss player Carmen Schäfer, who famously posed nude for a photo-shoot a few years ago.

The voting form can be found at the top of the sidebar.  Multi-voting is enabled, so you can vote for as many (or as few) women as you like. You have 50 women to choose from (including alternates), and here is the full list -

Maria Prytz (Sweden)
Christina Bertrup (Sweden)
Maria Wennerström (Sweden)
Margaretha Sigfridsson (Sweden)
Agnes Knochenhauer (Sweden)
Erika Brown (USA)
Debbie McCormick (USA)
Jessica Schultz (USA)
Ann Swisshelm (USA)
Allison Pottinger (USA)
Mirjam Ott (Switzerland)
Carmen Schäfer (Switzerland)
Carmen Küng (Switzerland)
Janine Greiner (Switzerland)
Alina Pätz (Switzerland)
Kim Ji-sun (South Korea)
Lee Seul-bee (South Korea)
Shin Mi-sung (South Korea)
Gim Un-chi (South Korea)
Lee Hyun-jung (South Korea)
Jennifer Jones (Canada)
Kaitlyn Lawes (Canada)
Jill Officer (Canada)
Dawn McEwen (Canada)
Kirsten Wall (Canada)
Anna Sidorova (Russia)
Margarita Fomina (Russia)
Alexandra Saitova (Russia)
Ekaterina Galkina (Russia)
Nkeiruka Ezekh (Russia)
Ayumi Ogasawara (Japan)
Yumie Funayama (Japan)
Kaho Onodera (Japan)
Chinami Yoshida (Japan)
Michiko Tomabechi (Japan)
Eve Muirhead (Great Britain)
Anna Sloan (Great Britain)
Vicki Adams (Great Britain)
Claire Hamilton (Great Britain)
Lauren Gray (Great Britain)
Lene Nielsen (Denmark)
Helle Simonsen (Denmark)
Jeanne Ellegaard (Denmark)
Maria Poulsen (Denmark)
Mette de Neergaard (Denmark)
Wang Bingyu (China)
Liu Yin (China)
Yue Qingshuang (China)
Zhou Yan (China)
Jiang Yilun (China)

Be sure to vote wisely!

Poll : Sexiest Woman of 2011 World Curling Championships

Roll up, roll up, and welcome along to the third running of Euro Women's legendary (kind of) annual poll to find the sexiest competitor of the world women's curling championships!  In a way, it's the fourth, because there was a special poll for the Olympic tournament last winter.  Our previous winners are Jennifer Jones of Canada (2009), Eve Muirhead of Scotland (2010) and Natalie Nicholson of the USA (2010 Olympics).  Of the three, only Muirhead is in the field for the 2011 worlds, and thus eligible for this poll.  Also likely to be in contention this time round are Danish skip Lene Nielsen, the Swedish trio of Cecilia Östlund, Sara Carlsson and Liselotta Lennartsson, Russian third Anna Sidorova, and the Norwegian skip Linn Githmark, who was once photographed nude for Ana Arce's famous series of curling calendars. Here is the full list to choose from -

Lene Nielsen (Denmark)
Helle Simonsen (Denmark)
Jeanne Ellegaard (Denmark)
Maria Poulsen (Denmark)
Mette de Neergaard (Denmark)
Amber Holland (Canada)
Kim Schneider (Canada)
Tammy Schneider (Canada)
Heather Kalenchuk (Canada)
Jolene Campbell (Canada)
Andrea Schöpp (Germany)
Imogen Lehmann (Germany)
Corinna Scholz (Germany)
Monika Wagner (Germany)
Stella Heiß (Germany)
Wang Bingyu (China)
Liu Yin (China)
Yue Qingshuang (China)
Zhou Yan (China)
Yu Xinna (China)
Kim Ji-Sun (South Korea)
Lee Seul-Bee (South Korea)
Shin Mi-Sung (South Korea)
Gim Un Chi (South Korea)
Lee Hyun-Jung (South Korea)
Anna Kubeśkova (Czech Republic)
Tereza Pliśkova (Czech Republic)
Luisa Illková (Czech Republic)
Eliśka Jalovcova (Czech Republic)
Veronika Herdová (Czech Republic)
Anna Sloan (Scotland)
Claire Hamilton (Scotland)
Vicki Adams (Scotland)
Rhiann MacLeod (Scotland)
Eve Muirhead (Scotland)
Liudmila Privivkova (Russia)
Anna Sidorova (Russia)
Margarita Fomina (Russia)
Ekaterina Galkina (Russia)
Nkeiruka Ezekh (Russia)
Linn Githmark (Norway)
Henriette Løvar (Norway)
Ingrid Stensrud (Norway)
Kristin Moen Skaslien (Norway)
Marianne Rørvik (Norway)
Mirjam Ott (Switzerland)
Carmen Schäfer (Switzerland)
Carmen Küng (Switzerland)
Janine Greiner (Switzerland)
Nicole Dünki (Switzerland)
Patti Lank (USA)
Caitlin Maroldo (USA)
Jessica Schultz (USA)
Mackenzie Lank (USA)
Debbie McCormick (USA)
Anette Norberg (Sweden)
Cecilia Östlund (Sweden)
Sara Carlsson (Sweden)
Liselotta Lennartsson (Sweden)
Karin Rudström (Sweden)

How to vote : go to the right side-bar! As ever, it's possible to vote for more than one woman at a time (and, indeed, it's highly encouraged). Choose wisely!

Eve Muirhead voted sexiest woman of 2010 World Curling Championships

She may have missed out on the chance of a first world title in agonising fashion, but Scottish skip Eve Muirhead was the clear winner of our poll to find the sexiest competitor of the Swift Current tournament. In second and third place were two Scandinavian skips - Linn Githmark of Norway and Cecilia Östlund of Sweden respectively. The winner of last year's poll, Canadian skip Jennifer Jones, was fourth, while Danish lead Camilla Jensen failed to repeat her strong showing in the Olympic poll a few weeks ago.

Here are the final results -

1 Eve Muirhead (Scotland) 23
2 Linn Githmark (Norway) 14
3 Cecilia Östlund (Sweden) 12
4 Jennifer Jones (Canada) 11
5 Lotta Lennartsson (Sweden) 8
6 Sarah Reid (Scotland) 6
7 Anna Sidorova (Russia) 5
= Ludmila Privivkova (Russia) 5
9 Camilla Jensen (Denmark) 4
= Madeleine Dupont (Denmark) 4
11 Melanie Robillard (Germany) 3
12 Kristin Skaslien (Norway) 2
= Erika Brown (USA) 2
14 Stella Heiß (Germany) 1
= Dawn Askin (Canada) 1
= Ekaterina Galkina (Russia) 1
= Sara Carlsson (Sweden) 1
= Ann Swisshelm (USA) 1
= Lorna Vevers (Scotland) 1
= Kelly Wood (Scotland) 1
= Wang Bingyu (China) 1

Poll : Sexiest Woman of 2010 World Curling Championships

The 2010 women's world curling championships are now well under way in Swift Current, and once again we're asking you to vote for the sexiest competitor. The winner of the Olympic poll, the USA's Natalie Nicholson, isn't present this time. However, three of the top five from that poll are competing - Denmark's Camilla Jensen and Madeleine Dupont, and Scotland's Eve Muirhead. Also back into the fray is the winner of last year's world championship poll, home skip Jennifer Jones of Canada. Another strong contender this time round may be a woman who did not feature in either poll, Norwegian skip Linn Githmark - one of several of this week's competitors to have appeared nude in Ana Arce's famous series of calendars.

Here is the full list to choose from -

Wang Bingyu (China)
Liu Yin (China)
Yue Qingshuang (China)
Zhou Yan (China)
Zhang Xindi (China)
Iveta Staša-Šaršūne (Latvia)
Una Grava-Germane (Latvia)
Ieva Krusta (Latvia)
Zanda Bikše (Latvia)
Dace Munča (Latvia)
Eve Muirhead (Scotland)
Kelly Wood (Scotland)
Lorna Vevers (Scotland)
Anne Laird (Scotland)
Sarah Reid (Scotland)
Erika Brown (USA)
Nina Spatola (USA)
Ann Swisshelm (USA)
Laura Hallisey (USA)
Jessica Schultz (USA)
Cecilia Östlund (Sweden)
Sara Carlsson (Sweden)
Anna Domeij (Sweden)
Lotta Lennartsson (Sweden)
Sabrina Kraupp (Sweden)
Linn Githmark (Norway)
Henriette Løvar (Norway)
Ingrid Stensrud (Norway)
Kristin Skaslien (Norway)
Kristin Tøsse-Løvseth (Norway)
Ludmila Privivkova (Russia)
Anna Sidorova (Russia)
Nkeiruka Ezekh (Russia)
Ekaterina Galkina (Russia)
Margarita Fomina (Russia)
Madeleine Dupont (Denmark)
Denise Dupont (Denmark)
Angelina Jensen (Denmark)
Camilla Jensen (Denmark)
Ivana Bratic (Denmark)
Binia Feltscher (Switzerland)
Corinne Bourquin (Switzerland)
Heike Schwaller (Switzerland)
Sandra Ramstein-Attinger (Switzerland)
Marisa Winkelhausen (Switzerland)
Moe Meguro (Japan)
Anna Ohmiya (Japan)
Mari Motohashi (Japan)
Kotomi Ishizaki (Japan)
Mayo Yamaura (Japan)
Jennifer Jones (Canada)
Cathy Overton-Clapham (Canada)
Jill Officer (Canada)
Dawn Askin (Canada)
Jennifer Clark-Rouire (Canada)
Andrea Schöpp (Germany)
Melanie Robillard (Germany)
Monika Wagner (Germany)
Stella Heiß (Germany)
Corinna Scholz (Germany)

As ever, vote wisely!

Natalie Nicholson voted sexiest woman of the 2010 Olympic curling tournament

Assisted by an apparent coordinated effort by supporters of Celtic football club in Scotland (!), American lead Natalie Nicholson is the surprise runaway winner of our Olympic curling poll. There were many twists and turns during the course of the voting, with Denmark's Madeleine Dupont taking an early lead, while Nicholson failed to secure a single vote in the early days. But once the Nicholson juggernaut got underway, Dupont started to fade quite badly, and her Danish team-mate Camilla Jensen began to look like the best bet to deny Nicholson the crown. Indeed, Jensen did briefly sneak into the lead, but then there was another huge influx of Celtic-fans-for-Nicholson (beats me), at which point the lead became unassailable. Jensen did however secure second place, holding on in spite of a late flurry of votes for Switzerland's Carmen Schäfer - probably a reflection of the fact that Switzerland reached the medal matches and Denmark did not. Scotland's Eve Muirhead (nominally representing Great Britain for the purposes of the Olympics) followed up her third place in last year's World Championships poll by pipping Madeleine Dupont for fourth place.

Hear are the full results. As the number of votes cast was so huge this time round, I've listed the actual number of votes for each woman, rather than percentages -

1 Natalie Nicholson (USA) 188
2 Camilla Jensen (Denmark) 151
3 Carmen Schäfer (Switzerland) 143
4 Eve Muirhead (Great Britain) 97
5 Madeleine Dupont (Denmark) 94
6 Cheryl Bernard (Canada) 37
7 Ludmila Privivkova (Russia) 36
= Melanie Robillard (Germany) 36
9 Nicole Joraanstad (USA) 34
10 Anna le Moine (Sweden) 28
11 Eva Lund (Sweden) 24
12 Anna Sidorova (Russia) 21
13 Janine Greiner (Switzerland) 20
14 Ekaterina Galkina (Russia) 17
15 Debbie McCormick (USA) 16
16 Denise Dupont (Denmark) 15
17 Margarita Fomina (Russia) 14
18 Jackie Lockhart (Great Britain) 12
19 Anna Ohmiya (Japan) 11
= Carmen Küng (Switzerland) 11
21 Stella Heiß (Germany) 10
22 Kajsa Bergström (Sweden) 9
= Angelina Jensen (Denmark) 9
24 Allison Pottinger (USA) 8
= Ane Hansen (Denmark) 8
26 Lorna Vevers (Great Britain) 7
27 Mirjam Ott (Switzerland) 6
= Mari Motohashi (Japan) 6
29 Anette Norberg (Sweden) 4
= Susan O'Connor (Canada) 4
31 Wang Bingyu (China) 3
= Kelly Wood (Great Britain) 3
33 Kotomi Ishizaki (Japan) 2
= Nkeiruka Ezekh (Russia) 2
35 Cathrine Lindahl (Sweden) 1
= Corinna Scholz (Germany) 1
= Mayo Yamaura (Japan) 1
= Moe Meguro (Japan) 1
= Irene Schori (Switzerland) 1
= Tracy Sachtjen (USA) 1

An astonishing 753 sets of votes were cast in total - but as multiple voting was permitted, the number of individual votes cast adds up to far more.

We also ran two other Winter Olympic-themed polls. Here are the results -

Sexiest woman of 2010 Olympic ice dance

1 Tessa Virtue (Canada) 16
2 Sinead Kerr (Great Britain) 13
3 Tanith Belbin (USA) 10
4 Nora Hoffmann (Hungary) 7
= Oksana Domnina (Russia) 7
6 Penny Coomes (Great Britain) 4
7 Isabelle Delobel (France) 2
= Vanessa Crone (Canada) 2
= Anna Cappellini (Italy) 2
= Emily Samuelson (USA) 2
11 Allison Reed (Georgia) 1
= Nathalie Pechalat (France) 1

35 sets of votes were cast in total.

Hottest woman of 2010 Olympic ladies' figure skating event

1 Kiira Korpi (Finland) 10
2 Sonia Lafuente (Spain) 7
3 Sarah Meier (Switzerland) 5
4 Joannie Rochette (Canada) 4
= Laura Lepisto (Finland) 4
6 Julia Sebestyen (Hungary) 3
7 Ksenia Makarova (Russia) 2
= Elene Gedevanishvili (Georgia) 2
= Isabelle Pieman (Belgium) 2
10 Cynthia Phaneuf (Canada) 1
= Miki Ando (Japan) 1
= Anna Jurkiewicz (Poland) 1
= Kim Yu-Na (South Korea) 1

25 sets of votes were cast in total.

Poll : Sexiest Woman of the 2010 Olympic Curling Tournament

The Winter Olympics get underway today in Vancouver, but one gold medal will be decided right here over the coming two weeks. Last year an extraordinary 183 votes were cast in our poll that crowned Jennifer Jones of Canada as the sexiest woman of the world curling championships. So who will be her (kind of) successor in the Olympic curling tournament? This time, it really is down to you, because after all the complaints about my rather subjective shortlist last year (interestingly many of the comments related to the exclusion of Nicole Joraanstad!) I’ve decided to include every single competitor on this occasion, including alternates. I’m relying on Wikipedia for accuracy – could be risky! Here is the full list of contenders –

Madeleine Dupont (Denmark)
Denise Dupont (Denmark)
Angelina Jensen (Denmark)
Camilla Jensen (Denmark)
Ane Hansen (Denmark)
Eve Muirhead (Great Britain)
Jackie Lockhart (Great Britain)
Kelly Wood (Great Britain)
Lorna Vevers (Great Britain)
Anne Laird (Great Britain)
Cheryl Bernard (Canada)
Susan O'Connor (Canada)
Carolyn Darbyshire (Canada)
Cori Bartel (Canada)
Kristie Moore (Canada)
Debbie McCormick (USA)
Allison Pottinger (USA)
Nicole Joraanstad (USA)
Natalie Nicholson (USA)
Tracy Sachtjen (USA)
Mirjam Ott (Switzerland)
Carmen Schäfer (Switzerland)
Carmen Küng (Switzerland)
Janine Greiner (Switzerland)
Irene Schori (Switzerland)
Moe Meguro (Japan)
Anna Ohmiya (Japan)
Mari Motohashi (Japan)
Kotomi Ishizaki (Japan)
Mayo Yamaura (Japan)
Andrea Schöpp (Germany)
Monika Wagner (Germany)
Melanie Robillard (Germany)
Stella Heiß (Germany)
Corinna Scholz (Germany)
Wang Bingyu (China)
Liu Yin (China)
Yue Qingshuang (China)
Zhou Yan (China)
Liu Jinli (China)
Ludmila Privivkova (Russia)
Anna Sidorova (Russia)
Nkeiruka Ezekh (Russia)
Ekaterina Galkina (Russia)
Margarita Fomina (Russia)
Anette Norberg (Sweden)
Eva Lund (Sweden)
Cathrine Lindahl (Sweden)
Anna le Moine (Sweden)
Kajsa Bergström (Sweden)


As ever, the women who have appeared nude in Ana Arce’s now-legendary curling calendars will be among the hot favourites for the crown. They include the aforementioned Nicole Joraanstad, Madeleine Dupont, Debbie McCormick and Camilla Jensen. Also in with a strong chance must be Carmen Schäfer and Eve Muirhead, who finished second and third respectively in last year’s poll.

To take account of the vastly expanded field this year, the rules have changed and you can vote for more than one favourite. So get voting!

Jennifer Jones voted sexiest woman of 2009 World Curling Championships

Her team may have traded the status of world champions for the dreaded medal-free fourth place, but Jennifer Jones held on in a tight race against Carmen Schaefer and Eve Muirhead to be crowned the sexiest competitor in this year's women's world curling championships. (Do you think I might be in danger of over-selling this slightly?) In fourth place was the early frontrunner Marianne Rørvik, who rallied somewhat after falling back midway through the voting.

1. Jennifer Jones (Canada) 18%
2. Carmen Schaefer (Switzerland) 16%
3. Eve Muirhead (Scotland) 15%
4. Marianne Rørvik (Norway) 8%
5. Eva Lund (Sweden) 7%
6. Jackie Lockhart (Scotland) 6%
7. Melanie Robillard (Germany) 6%
8. Liudmilla Privivkova (Russia) 5%
9. Madeleine Dupont (Denmark) 4%
10. Camilla Jensen (Denmark) 3%
11. Debbie McCormick (USA) 2%
12. Ekaterina Galkina (Russia) 2%
13. Allison Pottinger (USA) 1%

183 votes were cast in total.

Another update on the curling poll - Jennifer Jones storms into lead

I know I did hopefully mutter something along the lines of 'there might be a late flurry of votes' but that was mainly just my optimistic nature. But thanks to an unexpected plug for the poll on the Curling News blog (albeit with some understandable reservations about ethics!) it's actually happened. So, several dozen votes later, Canadian skip Jennifer Jones now holds a slender lead over Switzerland's Carmen Schaefer, with Scottish skip Eve Muirhead in third. Former leader Marianne Rørvik is now trailing somewhat in fifth place.

Update on the update : China may have now claimed their historic first world women's curling title, but as promised the poll will remain open for a couple more days. As things stand Jennifer Jones and Carmen Schaefer are deadlocked for the lead, with three-time world junior champion Eve Muirhead very close behind in third place. Here are the current standings -

Carmen Schaefer (Switzerland) 16%
Jennifer Jones (Canada) 16%
Eve Muirhead (Scotland) 15%

The real battle of the Blue Peter babes

The latest edition of FHM features an article billing itself as the 'battle of Blue Peter' - ie. who is the sexiest, Zöe Salmon or Konnie Huq? There's a stunning pictorial of each contender to help you decide - the only snag is (as far as I can see) there's no such poll to vote in! I suppose the idea is you can vote for either one in the annual '100 Sexiest' poll. So anyway, I thought I'd step into the breach and offer you the chance to vote in a one-on-one, death or glory, Zöe v Konnie poll.

Curling poll update : with a few days left to vote, Norwegian skip Marianne Rørvik is leading. However, we've only had a tiny number of votes so far, so if we get a sudden flurry over the weekend things could change dramatically. Incidentally, I realise now that Russian alternate Margarita Fomina would have been an obvious contender, and I also forgot about American Nicole Joraanstad, who like her skip Debbie McCormick also posed nude for Ana Arce's Women of Curling calendar. So apologies for excluding them from the list, and any others you think should have been there!

Poll : Sexiest Woman of 2009 World Curling Championships

With the 2009 world women's curling championships now well underway in South Korea, you can vote now for your choice as the sexiest competitor. Obviously to include all sixty players (including alternates) would have been a little unwieldy, so I've taken the liberty of picking out the leading contenders - a touch subjective, of course. Many of those included in the poll have at some point posed nude for Ana Arce's now legendary Women of Curling calendar. The full list of contenders are -

Jennifer Jones (Canada)
Madeleine Dupont (Denmark)
Camilla Jensen (Denmark)
Eve Muirhead (Scotland)
Jackie Lockhart (Scotland)
Eva Lund (Sweden)
Debbie McCormick (USA)
Allison Pottinger (USA)
Marianne Rørvik (Norway)
Liudmilla Privivkova (Russia)
Melanie Robillard (Germany)
Ekaterina Galkina (Russia)
Carmen Schaefer (Switzerland)

Obviously I'm slightly going against the spirit of this blog by including a few women from North America, but as the majority are European I feel I can make an exception! The poll will remain open until a couple of days after the championships conclude. As ever, vote wisely!