Happy birthday Anna Semenovich!

A very happy birthday to Anna Grigorievna Semenovich!

Back in the 1990's, she was a competitive ice dancer, winning the Finlandia Trophy twice and placing tenth in the 2000 world championships.

Since then, she's apparently set up as a sort of Russian answer to Christine Smith.

All I know is, she's beautiful. Happy birthday!

Figure skating!

Now that I've finished watching the European figure skating championships, it occurs to me that I haven't waxed pictorial about that sport at all.

Bad news first: my favorite skater, the wonderful Alena Leonova, finished a lowly seventh with what looked like an injured leg. She clearly wasn't on her game, which is a damn shame, because she's far and away the best performer in the sport today. Her Pirates of the Caribbean routine last year was unforgettable.

We were very impressed with the young Polina Korobeynikova's free program, which propelled her to a creditable fourth spot.

France's Yrétha Silété and Latvia's Alina Fjodorova also impressed us. Korobeynikova was only just beat to the bronze medal by Georgia's Elene Gedevanishvili, and because Google image search produced a totally gratuitous bikini shot of her, I'm posting it here.



The immensely beautiful and skilled Kiira Korpi took home her first-ever Euro silver medal, looking fabulous in black:

The gold medal, however, went to Italy's Caroline Kostner. Hey, another bikini picture! Thanks, Google.

Don't tell me she ain't cute. A hell of a skater, too; it's amazing how easy she makes it look. We're already looking forward to the World Championships in March!

The hottest Finnish athlete of them all

In April, sports site The Bleacher Report ranked Finland's Kiira Korpi number one in their list of "sexiest international athletes". I'm sorry, but they're wrong.

Is Kiira beautiful? Of course she is.

She has old-time film-star good looks and is a heck of a figure skater, so sure, she belongs on the list. Especially after that number with the cop outfit.

The problem is, she's not the hottest athlete in Finland at all.

For starters, there's Eva Wahlström, former amateur European silver medalist and current pro boxer, who is not only Finland's most successful female boxer ever, but also damn hot.

However, the title of Finland's hottest athlete belongs squarely to world champion and multiple European champion Hanna-Maria Seppälä. I mean, look at her:

Case closed!