Русская версияGermany's
Playboy Magazine
has four Olympic athletes revealing all in its current edition --
canoeist Nicole Reinhardt, hockey player Katharina Scholz, sailor
Petra Niemann and judoka Romy Tarangul.
Beijing fencing gold
medalist Britta Heidemann posed for the same magazine four years
ago.
Bildunterschrift:
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
"Hockey is sexy," Scholz said and many agree
"For me it was a good opportunity and maybe when I look back after
a few years I will be proud of it," 25-year-old Scholz said of the
nude photo shoot. "Not everybody can go on the cover of
Playboy
; I did it because I am confident of my body and myself."
Beard, meanwhile, who posed for
Playboy
last year, shed her clothes to support People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals' ad campaign calling on consumers to forego
fur.
Whether or not they bare all, however, many of the 10,500 young
athletes in Beijing's Olympic Village are conscious of their sex
appeal. For some, a sexy image can promote their sport.
As if bikini-clad players weren't enough, scantily dressed dancers
perform during the breaks at beach volleyball matches in Chaoyang
Park. There is even a rule in indoor volleyball on what women have
to wear on the court to spice up their appearance.
Sex appeal can't buy fans
But showing skin isn't always beneficial to sports, according to
American professor Mary Jo Kane, who conducts research on girls and
women in sports.
"The question is: Does sex sell?" she told the German dpa news
agency. "It sells magazines and products. Does it translate into
greater interest and respect in women's sports? The answer is,
unequivocally, it does not.
"The assumption is that sex sells. The assumption is, for women's
sports to survive, you have to attract the real fans, which are
male fans. And you have to attract them with how pretty and sexy
they are."
Some sexier than others
Competitors in the more popular sports have a natural advantage,
when it comes to wooing fans.
Track and field, for instance, is erotic per se, with athletes
contorting their bodies into graceful arcs on the Beijing track to
rock music from Pearl Jam or Green Day blaring over the sound
system.
Many remember the long fingernails of the late Florence Griffith
Joyner or Gail Devers, both former US Olympic runners.
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Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Pole vaulter Isinbayeva makes the most of her sex appeal
But it is Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva, who has taken the art of
flirting, and the sport of pole vaulting, to unsurpassable heights.
The 26-year-old Russian loves to flirt with the crowd. She blows
kisses, smiles, and does summersaults after world records.
She hasn't appeared on the cover of
Playboy
. Instead, it was
Cosmopolitan
.
"I love to be alone at the top," she said after her world record
vault of 5.05 meters on Monday night. "It's so cool and I will try
to keep my position as long as possible."
At least there's money in it
There is also Leryn Franco, a model and javelin thrower from
Paraguay, who crashed out on Tuesday in qualifying. For her, being
sexy isn't about winning fans, it's just a means to an end.
"I have done campaigns for many companies," she said. "Being a
model is a good way to earn money, which I need to concentrate on
my sport -- which is my real passion."
(Deutsche Welle)
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