Off Track ..... Conde bows out as sport changes

The ultimate lifestyle sport of beach volleyball is becoming too pressurised, too busy - and too tall - for amateurs to stay in the game, according to Argentine veteran Martin Conde.

The 2001 world champion bowed out of the international beach volleyball scene quietly this week after he and his partner Mariano Baracetti lost their pool at the Beijing Olympics.

"I've had a great time but the circuit is getting harder and harder," said Conde, who has played at each Olympics since beach volleyball joined the Games in 1996.