The 50 Most Googled Female Athletes of 2012

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35. Andrea Petkovic



Google Results From Past Year: 122,000
She’s ranked #125 right now, but last fall she reached #9. So this German tennis star is still riding that wave.

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34. Daniela Hantuchova



Google Results From Past Year: 183,000
Slovakian tennis player Daniela Hantuchova is 29 and in the twilight of her career. But it turns out that hot women who appear in ESPN’s famous “Body Issue” are pretty popular.

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33. Aly Raisman



Google Results From Past Year: 224,000
Aly Raisman was one of the unexpected heroes for the U.S. Olympic team this year. It’s no surprise she makes the list.

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32. Christine Sinclair



Google Results From Past Year: 127,000
Christine Sinclair has been Canada’s #1 female soccer player for years, having even been nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year 6 of the last 8 years. However, she didn’t truly become famous until a performance for the ages in the Olympic semifinals. She scored 3 goals against the United States, which might have won the game if not for a very controversial penalty kick awarded by the referee. But despite the disappointment against the U.S. in the semis, Sinclair helped her team regroup to take the bronze medal game against France.

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31. Dominika Cibulkova


Google Results From Past Year: 127,000
Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova has never made it past the semifinals of Grand Slam event, but she is ranked 15th right now…and pretty hot. So that accounts for her persistent popularity on the interwebs.

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30. Maria Kirilenko



Google Results From Past Year: 169,000
What can I say? The internet is just crazy about hot female tennis players…even if they are supposedly dating Alexander Ovechkin.

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29. Katie Taylor



Google Results From Past Year: 131,000
If you don’t know who Katie Taylor is, then you’re obviously not Irish. Because every single man, woman, child, dog, and cat on the Emerald Isle is a huge fan of this tiny gold medal Olympic boxer.

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28. Kerri Walsh



Google Results From Past Year: 146,000
Kerri Walsh is one half of the most famous and successful beach volleyball duo of all time. Her partner? Yeah, she’s up next.

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27. Misty May-Treanor



Google Results From Past Year: 154,000
Together with her partner Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor has won three straight gold medals in beach volleyball.

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26. Marion Bartoli



Google Results From Past Year: 159,000
France’s Marion Bartoli doesn’t have the physique you’d expect from an elite athlete. However, she started the year ranked #7 in the world, and currently she’s ranked #11, so obviously she’s doing something right.

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25. Abby Wambach



Google Results From Past Year: 203,000
Abby Wambach currently sits second on the all-time goals list for U.S. Soccer behind Mia Hamm. That’s pretty good company. Of course, this year she added a second Olympic gold medal to her collection of awards.

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24. Victoria Pendleton



Google Results From Past Year: 223,000
The gorgeous Victoria Pendleton became a star in Great Britain after winning gold in women’s sprint cycling in 2008. This year she cemented her status as a megastar by winning two more medals on home soil—a silver in the sprint and another gold in the keirin.

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23. Samantha Stosur



Google Results From Past Year: 249,000
2011 U.S. Open Champ Samantha Stosur may not have added any more Grand Slam titles to her resume this year, but she still has the biggest guns in women’s tennis.

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22. Petra Kvitova



Google Results From Past Year: 261,000
This 22-year-old Czech tennis star won Wimbledon in 2011 and rose to #2 in the world last fall. As 2012 draws to a close she currently sits at #8, but she still has a big web presence.

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21. Leryn Franco



Google Results From Past Year: 265,000
Perennial “Googled female athlete” Leryn Franco got a bit of a boost this year thanks to her participation in the Summer Olympics. Of course, the Paraguayan javelin thrower didn’t medal, but gosh darn it she tried hard.