Meet 2001 Penthouse Pet of the Year Zdenka Podkapova, an internationally known beauty that comes to us straight from the Czech Republic. She was the first girl in history to win the title of Pet of the Year from the Czech Republic, and only the second girl from Europe to win it. Learn more about this blonde goddess in her biography below.

My name is Zdenka Podkapova and I'm from the Czech Republic in Europe. I live in the second capital city, called Brno. I'm 26 years old and I've been in the modeling business for eight years.

When I was younger I never thought or imagined I would become a successful model. I was a professional gymnast for more than ten years and sport was my whole world. I wasn't the best gymnast in the world but I did have some success; I was in the Czech national team for five years and I became the Czech national champion four times during my young career.

But when I gave up gymnastics my life completely changed and I began another new and exciting chapter. At 18 I was approached by a photographer, but I hung back because I was studying Economics at the time. When I finished school I contacted him and we made some test pictures. At that point I was still unsure, but he liked my look and we went from there.

My first professional photoshoot was in October 1996 on Gran Canaria Island. We worked flat out every day for two weeks shooting new pictorials. It was a very good experience for me and I learned a lot there. When we got back to the Czech Republic I started to collaborate with this photographer not just as a model but as a computer assistant and later as a make-up artist. We were good friends and worked very hard together for two years. Later I grew more ambitious and tried contacting USA Penthouse. It worked and I soon went to work with them.

My first pictorials for USA Penthouse came out in April 1998. I was chosen as Penthouse Pet of the Month. Two years later I won USA Penthouse Pet of the Year 2001. I never thought that I could win. It was a very big surprise for me and I cried like a baby. I received 100,000 USD and a golden key with coronet. I was the first girl in history from the Czech Republic to win the title of Pet of the Year and only the second girl from Europe.