Beard, appearing on a radio show based in Phoneix, was asked point blank on the "Johnjay and Rich Show," whether she and Michael Phelps had ever dated. Beard exercised about as much restraint with her words as she does to keep her underwear on when there's a camera around.

Her response:

"Eww, that's nasty."

Actually there's more:

"Come on, I have really good taste. He's really not my type."

Now, we're not sure exactly what part of Michael Phelps' "8-time gold medal Olympic champion" she finds "nasty" but that's her own personal opinion.Lucky for Phelps, he can now check one of the 9 million other desperate skanks out there off the list.

Amanda Bear Denies Dating Michael Phelps [NY Post]

OK, I was really just looking for an excuse to post on the topic here this weekend. I didn't have an agenda in mind, but I suppose if you insist...

I'm not willing to assign some sort of "she demeans women athletes" or "she empowers women's fitness" angle to what - more than anything - is simply her own attempts to cash in on her place at the nexus of hotness and sports. I don't condemn her for that. That's the playing field.

I would, however, seriously question whether she is, as the cover claims, "the world's sexiest athlete." Now that is a hell of a debate.

(A quick aside: Is it me, or is she just not that pretty? Her face is a little too "Elway.")

I do like that "sexy" is equated to an athletic build. I married a former elite swimmer, so that's my type. A-Rod has his type (perhaps a wee bit, eh, bulkier). Tom Brady has his type (assless). We've all got the physical qualities that turn us on, hopefully matched with a few decent non-physical qualities as well.

The Comments question on the table, of course, is this: Who IS the sexiest athlete? And I'll be assigning extra points for novelty. (No, Rags to Riches doesn't qualify.)
— D.S.

Amanda Beard Q&A [SI.com's Richard Deitsch]