Soon after Stephanie Rice tweeted a sexy picture of her in a "Tomb Raider" bikini by Ellie Gonsalves, Australian radio host Ryan Fitzgerald of Nova FM decided to don the same piece and do an imitation of her shot.


He tweeted a photo of himself with the same bikini with the caption: "Hey @ItsStephRice you have inspired @Wippa and I with your amazing @EllieGonsalves creation. Go you good thing!"


Stephanie Rice tweeted a racy photo of herself in Ellie's sexy swimsuit yesterday. The 24-year-old Australian swimmer who secured three gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, posted the photo with the caption: "Thank you to the Gorgeous @elliegonsalves for my birthday @veveswimwear bikini".


Rice's management confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that Stephanie is in no way endorsing Ellie Gonsalves' swimwear. "No, Stephanie isn't an ambassador for Ellie Gonsalves, she just loves their stuff. She doesn't have any relationship with Speedo anymore so there are no restrictions there."


However, Ellie's label director Vanessa Bryce told the Herald Sun that sales have rocketed since Rice tweeted the photo of herself in the bikini. "We've had inquires from all over ... the US, Singapore. We've sold an extra 60 since the photo ran and sales of other swimwear has also gone up."


Bryce also went on to say that they will be sending more bikinis to Rice. "Yes, we are preparing a special package of things to send [Rice] after the Olympics to say 'thank you'."

Tags: stephanie rice ryan fitzgerald olympics