Missy Giove.

Being a lesbian is just part of this mountain-bike champion's radical appeal

Like Michael Jordan, she dominates her sport, capturing world titles three of the past four years. And in some circles she is just as revered. Teenage boys cover their bedroom wails with full-color posters of her and covet her autograph as much as they do Jordan's. She is one of the top-earning female athletes in America And she is among the few openly lesbian athletes.

Yet beyond the world of professional mountain-bike racing, she is relatively unknown. That suits Missy Giove (pronounced "jee-OH-vee") just fine. "Moms will bring their 16-year-old boys up to meet me," she says. "They know I'm a lesbian from the biker magazines. It's a different generation--they don't really make a big deal about sexual orientation. What they care about is that I spend a lot of time with the kids and don't just blow them off. You have to make the effort for everyone."

It was Giove's athletic effort that was on display June 20 at the California Mountain Tour, held in Big Bear, Calif. Giove took second place in a field of 41. She is currently ranked number one in the world by Union Cyclists International, the sport's governing body.

Giove, 26, spends about half the year in southern France, site of several competitions, to be close to her training partners. But she also spends time in Durango, Colo., with her girlfriend, Cristin Wilson, and Giove's father, Ben, who also serves as her manager and agent.

Meanwhile, success has come quickly for Giove. Until 1990 her biking experience was limited to delivering Chinese takeout in New York City. On a dare she entered a race in Vermont and ended up winning. She won her first world title in 1994 by exhibiting her lifelong kamikaze style that has led to 33 broken bones in the past 26 years. In 1995 she finished fourth at the world championships after crashing and breaking her collarbone in a race just months before. She's won two back-to-back world titles since then and is poised to be on top again at the end of the 1998 season.

Because mountain biking is one of the most dangerous sports and each year there are fatalities, Giove has developed some unusual rituals to ward off the fear that can ruin the careers of even the most successful mountain bikers. Before every race she licks the dirt trail in homage to the "mountain gods" and ties Gonzo, a dead piranha, around her neck And like a devoted shaman, she sprinkles the ashes of her childhood dog Ruffin into her bra.

Sponsors have been salivating at the fearless way Giove careens down 3,000-foot slopes. Volvo-Cannondale quickly signed her to a contract, which now brings her more than seven figures annually, making her the most highly paid male or female athlete in the sport. Reebok has featured her, complete, with nose ring and silver body paint, in theft "This is my planet" ad series.

"When I spoke to her I thought she was the kind of personality that would really make a big star of her sport," says Scott Montgomery, director of Cannondale bicycles. Referring to Jordan's flamboyant Chicago Bull's teammate, he adds, "Missy is the Dennis Rodman of mountain biking."

Downhill biking is often lumped into the growing "extreme sports" category, which includes skateboarding and rock climbing. Because of their outsider status, these sports often provide a venue for gay and lesbian athletes to come out. "People have an expectation that the best and brightest [of mountain biking] will be more radical in every way," explains Robin Stuart, coauthor of Mountain Biking for Women. Adds Giove, who is known for her Mohawk, body piercings, and tattoos: "People expect me to be off-the-wall. My being a lesbian doesn't really faze people."

Giove encourages athletes of all sorts to come out. "I realize that athletes look at Martina Navratilova and realize that she has lost millions in endorsements because she is openly lesbian," she says. "I have been fortunate that discrimination has not held me back in my career. All I can say is that I think people will ultimately respect you most for being honest about who you are."

Allen is a freelance writer based in Sacramento, Calif. Additional reporting by Chris Bull.