Olympic curler Madeleine Dupont posed topless.

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lympics fans have shown a sudden burst of interest in the low-profile sport of curling, in part thanks to nude photos of several curling stars, including Danish Olympian Madeleine Dupont, that have surfaced online. The pictures came from a calendar, called Fire & Ice, that was produced to raise the profile of the sport. The curlers were hardly the first to show skin -- Playboy has done photo spreads on Olympic athletes, and U.S. skiing gold medalist Lindsey Vonn donned a bikini for the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. Is the nudity trend bad for sports, or is it all in good fun? (Watch U.S. Olympians pose for the S.I. swimsuit issue)

Posing nude is damaging for women athletes: All these pictures of nude athletes "trivializes women in sports," says Charlene Weaving, as quoted in the Winnipeg Free Press. "We're telling women that it's not enough to be a world-class athlete, that you also have to take off your shirt." That's "damaging," and disrespectful.
"Olympic status should be enough"

I'm hooked on curling, all thanks to sexy Madeleine Dupont: Maybe "it's wrong" to take an interest in a sport because of the sex appeal of the athletes, says Mark Brown in the Chicago Sun-Times. But thanks to Denmark's lovely Madeleine Dupont and the other stunning curlers at the Olympics, I have watched, and gained an understanding of their game. "If loving curling is wrong, I don't want to be right."
"Swept away by dynamic curling duo"

This is about getting attention: "I don’t blame hot-bodied athletes for taking it off," says Olivia Allin in The Frisky. But this is about showing off your "toned" bod -- "saying you’re getting naked to make alpine skiing more mainstream is some major BS." Still, "the original Olympians performed naked, so what’s the big deal now?"
"10 Olympians who’ve gotten naked to 'support their sport'"

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