Olympic skating champion topless

Olympic figure skating champion Jamie Sale didn`t want to do anything "sleazy." But somehow staff with the young men`s magazine FHM talked her into some hot pants and out of a bikini top. The Edmonton athlete appears topless and scantily clad in a three-page photo spread in the January 2004 U.S. edition of the men`s magazine, scheduled to hit store shelves across North America on Tuesday. "I don`t know how the Sports Illustrated women do it," Sale said Friday from her home in Edmonton, which she shares with David Pelletier, her partner both on and off the ice. "I consider myself a wholesome girl and I don`t want to come across as I`ll get naked for anybody. I would never do Playboy or anything." Sale and Pelletier graced the covers of Time, Newsweek and Maclean`s after a judging scandal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City turned them into celebrities. The pairs skaters were eventually awarded gold medals and now tour with Stars on Ice. Sale, 26, said she wasn`t paid to do the FHM photo shoot this summer in New York. She simply wanted the publicity and staff promised her that she could wear some sporty outfits, such as a short skirt and a sexy top. "I said, `That`s perfect. I don`t feel like wearing a bathing suit.` And then I get there and all I`ve got to wear is lingerie and bathing suits, and I went to Dave and said, `Oh, my God.` " She was nervous but staff made her feel comfortable and convinced her the photos would be tasteful, she said. When she doffed her top, the men in the crew turned around to give her some privacy. "The boys who were there didn`t see it," said Sale. "But you think, `I`m sitting here topless.` It`s weird." In one photo, Sale is lying on her back, her bare breasts covered with artificial snow. Sale said Pelletier supported her decision to pose for the photos. "He thinks it`s great." But she hasn`t told her mother yet. "I think she`ll be a bit shocked, but not in a bad way." Sale said she`s more worried about what people will think about the story that accompanies the photos, rather than the photos themselves. "Guys should know that figure skating is sexy," Sale is quoted as saying in the magazine. "There are a lot of beautiful women out there in skimpy, little outfits doing very intimate routines. If I were wearing panties, I`d skate in a French maid`s outfit." Sale said she was misquoted. "First of all, I`d never skate in panties." She said the FHM writer asked her if she would ever wear a maid`s outfit. She said, "Sure." Earlier this year, Victoria-born singer Nelly Furtado lashed out at FHM for altering a photo of her with a phony midriff on its cover, after she turned down their offer to do a photo shoot. Edmonton Oilers photographer Gerry Thomas, who has taken plenty of photos of Sale, said her charm and honesty come through in her photos, no matter what she`s wearing. "She`s just a beautiful person, the girl next door -- with sex appeal to boot," Thomas said. Sale is the first Olympic gold medallist to be featured in the magazine, which boasts four million readers around the world, said deputy editor Michael Dolan. But Sale has been mentioned in the magazine twice before, in its annual 100 Sexiest Women issues. Sale ranked No. 96 last year. This year, she moved up to 92, ahead of television star Courtney Cox Arquette (93) and actress Christina Ricci (96). Top honours went to movie siren Halle Berry.