This week, Olympians are turning up everywhere, so when five female athletes appeared in Playboy or its milder competition, FHM, it wasn't a great surprise to anyone.

Indeed, the New York Times devoted a front-page story to pointing out the non-reaction the photos received. These are obviously women of great determination and decisiveness, and if they want to pose scantily clad or nude, they - slam-dunk - have the right to.

We defend that right on principle. We also disagree with it on principle.

At the height of their athletic opportunity - for which they and thousands of other females have sweated and strained for decades - we are sorry to see their first action to be joining the pages of magazines that emphasize sex appeal alone.

Perhaps it is sharp marketing on the magazines' part to snag the athletes even before they've competed, to strike while the anvil and images are hot. But there's a healthy skepticism in wondering how often, as they approach success and stature, women are invited to appear in magazines that emphasize looks over smarts, or body parts over bodies of achievement.

Is the message that you, as females, have arrived and can do anything you want? Or is it that no matter how strong or smart or successful you are, we still like you best for your bust size?

Athletics in modern-day America is inextricably intertwined with sex appeal and looks. Just about everything is. But women, who have been the most victimized by that thinking, should reflect very carefully before they contribute to it. Or at least they should think about how they contribute to it.

One of the athletes who posed said she simply did it for cash, that "it's really hard to make that much money in the real world." But for years we've seen male athletes cash in with lucrative endorsements - and keep their clothes on doing it. Indeed, if this is the most flattering, forward-looking offer out there, how come no male Olympians have lined up for the exposure?

Individual women can take their clothes off as publicly as they like. But let's not kid ourselves that continuing sexual stereotypes is a good thing for women.