Triumph In Beijing

As you certainly know, the games of the XXIXth Olympiad are in full swing in Beijing and, just a few days in, there is no shortage of fantastic stories of triumph. From the USA Men's 4 X 100M Freestyle medley win over the heavily favored French at the Cube (the aquatics venue) to the USA Men's unlikely team bronze in gymnastics*, surprising moments of glory have kept viewers and fans cheering half a world away. Perhaps the greatest achievement of all, though, may be the one that has unfolded on the sand of the women's beach volleyball competition where the USA's Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh look to continue their dominance in the sport and earn their second straight Olympic gold. So far, so good for their quest to repeat as champions, as they are 2-0 in pool play. No surprise there. What then, is the real surprise of this beach volleyball competition and these Olympic Games?

The real triumph here is that someone has found a way to make women's beach volleyball "uniforms" more revealing than they already were. Truly amazing! For those that have not seen the sport, the ladies wear bikinis - appropos for a beach pasttime and certainly unencumbering for sport. Of all sports that I can think of, though, this gear offered the lease body coverage of any regulation uniform**. I caught part of last night's May-Treanor/Walsh match and was appalled*** to find that not only were they wearing white uniforms that were somewhat more transparent than your average woman might wish to wear on worldwide television, but the sides and the top of the back of the bikini bottoms were made of what appeared to be mesh of some sort. See through. I presume this allows the sides and back of the players' waistlines to breathe more during competition? I'm sure that, prior to this, the smothering of the waistline area kept many a team from reaching full potential and challenging for the gold. Kudos to those whose commitment to the comfort and performance of our athletes never wavers (though I think they may have overlooked the possibility of thong bottoms and band-aids over nipples for maximum breathability, but hey, progress can sometimes be painfully slow).


* I'm sure some other countries have had good moments, too, but while the Olympics is a time for international unity and fellowship through sport, it is also an excuse for extreme, founded or unfounded, jingoism. It's kind of fun.

** Now that swimmers have, in large part, left the old "speedo" and gone to the full body suit, but even that tiny suit had some perceived performance impact as it lessened an potential resistance the suit may cause as a swimmer traveled through the water.

*** appalled = delighted