Leryn Franco: Why Can’t Our Olympians Be This Hot?

She is the reason the world even bothers to watch a javelin throw event…

When the FHM team was approached for an interview with this bootylicious babe, the lady in our team who got the pitch email from Leryn’s publicist asked us, “What’s a javelin and who is Leryn Franco?” We don’t blame her because we know that no one pays much attention to javelin in our country, and more than half the people who watched or attended javelin events at the London Olympics were there to ogle at Franco’s well-chiselled body. For your information, she placed 51st in the javelin throw at the London 2012 Olympics, but still managed to leave her mark for being the hottest Olympian ever.

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When we started reading up about her online and checked out the press coverage during her recent India visit, most of the articles focussed more on her stunning looks than her sporting career. Maybe the reporters who met her lost control over their testosterone during their one-on-one conversations, which is not their fault because even we are guilty of the same. Still, we didn’t want to make obvious things more obvious, so when we grilled her about the perspective with which she is written about in news dailies, the Olympian who has courageously tried to popularise javelin and other sports in her soccer crazy country of Paraguay said, “Obviously I’d like the press to talk more about my onfield performances, my national and international titles and achievements, which maybe far from world records, but are still important. It will help me make track and field events in Latin America as popular as it is in Europe.” Though Franco’s Olympics’ report card is not as impressive as her contemporaries, her national record is unbeaten for the last 12 years. “It doesn’t matter if I didn’t win any medals, but I’m happy representing my country,” commits the 30-year-old athlete who took up athletics at the age of 13. She didn’t have to look for inspiration elsewhere because her mom, Gabriela, was a national rollerskating champion from Uruguay. However, it’s not just athletics that keep her busy. She is more successful in front of the camera than on the court. “I dedicate 80% of my day to my training and the rest of the time, I’m shooting a TV program I have in Paraguay. Successfully clubbing modelling and sports requires attitude and character. I recognised every opportunity that came my way and made the most of it. I’m quite happy about that and it doesn’t matter what people think about my dual career. Also, any sport is a big responsibility and I train really hard for it, but modelling lets me relax,” says the successful model who became a big talking point after she posed topless for a sports glossy in 2011.

Franco has also shot for an Irish film called Madame Lynch by Alan Gilsenan, which is scheduled to release this year. As far as her relationships are concerned, she was rumoured to be Novak Djokovic’s arm candy during the Beijing Olympics. “I am a relationship-type of girl. I like to hang out with men who know how to have fun, like to talk and are more cheerful than me because I can be too serious at times. To be in any relationship, I have to trust the person and even he has to trust me. I can’t handle jealously and lack of confidence. Fortunately, I maintain a very good relationship with all my exes and try to finish a relationship in a friendly way,” confesses the cute-sexy athlete. When we asked her about her Valentine’s Day plans she responded, “I don’t know yet, but if you want to know if I’m single or not, well the answer is yes, I’m single. As such, February 14 doesn’t make sense because there is no date to love or have fun with your better half. You have to love her/him everyday.”

Before things got too mushy, we put our next question on the table, which was – They say, sex doesn’t matter if you are in a relationship. Does it make sense or is it a crap claim? – to which she replied, “Everything matters when you are in a relationship, because it’s about sharing all that you got and everything that you are.” So if not love, then what else is on the cards for her right now? She tells us, “On my things-to-do list is sharing more with my family (it’s something I am already doing). Also, to throw 60 meters in javelin, and to perfect my English and Italian. Since I’ve done television, I now want to study acting. I also want to travel to different countries, meet different people and get to know different cultures. My India visit taught me a lot of new stuff like I can connect much better to my inner self now than I used to before I came here. I’m happy.”

Franco also has a keen interest in music. Sharing her playlist, she says, “On my iPod, I’m currently playing a song by somebody that I used to know. Also artists like Rihanna, Adele, Maroon 5 and Shakira are on my list.”

All said and done, it’s sports that she is keen on. Her immediate goal is The Sub American Championship of track and field events. “If you ask me what’s more soothing to my ears – a successful athlete or a hot model – I would pick a successful athlete,” claims the babe who admits to waking up a bit more confident than other people because of the way she looks. “Some days I wake up more inspired than others. I have always used my good looks to get things done but that’s not enough. Beauty without intelligence doesn’t work,” she signs off on an inspiring mode.

FYI

• Lives: Paraguay
• Career: Her personal best throw is 57.77 metres that she achieved in June 2012.
• She became an internet sensation during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
• She participated in the India Resort Fashion Week held in November 2012.

Where to stalk her

• Website: www.lerynfranco.com You can download her images from there and from this website we have gathered that she is single and is an expert at cooking barbeques.
• Twitter: @LerynFranco. She doesn’t tweet in English, but still, she keeps posting her fresh pics.
• Calender: To keep a date with her fans, she has her own calender.

From the February 2013 issue of FHM India.