OLYMPICS / Spotlight

Today's women win with skin
By Xiao Changyan
China Daily
Updated: 2008-08-15 10:19

 

For once, US President George W. Bush was spot-on; the morning after the opening ceremony he was bright-eyed and Bushy-tailed and making a beeline to Chaoyang Park.

Sure, the President was there to cheer on the US's Olympic champions (Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh). Truth is, though, that even on that rain-sodden day, gawping at colorful bikinis on "beach babes" sure made a nice break from running the world. One wisecracker welcomed Bush's appearance saying the world had been a safer place for a few hours. But that's another story.

Japan's Mika Teru Saiki jumps to return the ball against Norway in a women's preliminary beach volleyball match at Beijing's Chaoyang Park beach ground. [Agencies]

In fact, beach volleyball has been one of the Olympics' great successes since debuting as an exhibition sport at Barcelona 1992.

"The bikinis make a perfect match with the athletes' tanned skins and slim figures," says Liu Rong, a 26-year-old Chinese fan who also sported a yellow bikini at the China-Switzerland match.

"For me, wearing a bikini is the best way to show my beauty and support for our sporting stars."

Liu is far from alone. Many Chinese women have also been seen wearing the sexy outfit during the first few days of beach volleyball, diving and swimming events.

It's all a far cry from just ten years ago, when the bikini was regarded in a poor light by many conservative Chinese and very few girls were bold enough to wear it in public.

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"The bikini hit like an earthquake when it first appeared here in 1985," recalls Peng Danrong, general manager of Haosha, one of the biggest swimwear manufacturers in China.

Contestants wore bikinis, exposing their bellies and navels for the first time during the Fourth National Bodybuilding Contest held that year. The small outfit immediately became big news and set tongues wagging throughout China. Many criticized it as being pornographic and in poor taste, since exposure of one's body in public was traditionally considered shameful by the Chinese.

But there was no turning back. More and more bikinis started popping up, so to speak, on TV and in magazines. As waves of beauty contests swept the country, the swimwear revolution took hold and TV ratings soared as people tuned in to get an eyeful.

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