It's the Becks appeal... this is why ‘alpha male’ sportsmen get the women
WOMEN find sportsmen handsome because of natural selection in our evolutionary past, a study found.
The strongest men are more attractive to them because they seek physically fit partners to protect their offspring, it said.
Choosy women like to have sex with “high quality males” because they make good fathers and provide good genes.
It explains why stars such as footballers David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo or tennis ace Rafael Nadal are admired as much for their looks as their sporting skills.
More than 800 people – mostly women – were asked to rate 80 Tour de France cyclists for attractiveness. Those rated highest tended to have performed better in the race.
Study leader Dr Erik Postma, of Zurich University, said: “I found it indeed is the handsome guys who finish first.
“This association between looks and performance is in line with human endurance performance having been shaped by selection in our evolutionary past.”
Endurance in early humans was important for covering distances to hunt, gather and scavenge. So reasons for mate selection could include performance and attractiveness being linked with health, vigour, strength or qualities such as competitiveness, according to the study findings published in Biology Letters.
Dr Postma said: “If true, individuals with higher endurance capacity were likely to be better providers for their partner and progeny. Across cultures women place a lot of value on the provisioning ability of their prospective partner.”
This instinct was not so strong for women using the contraceptive pill, the study found.