Olympic Spot

Remember this cartoon? . . . 

There was a practical demonstration of it in the Women’s Beach Volleyball event a few days ago when Egyptian and German teams met:

Some comments:

• Traditionally women’s beach volleyball has used skimpy outfits for functional and titillation reasons. At one stage the brief outfits were mandatory.

• During the approach to the 2012 London Olympics, the uniform rules were relaxed to allow full sleeves and leggings so as to open the game to more cultures.

• As a result, there were now 169 different countries involved in the Continental Cup qualifying process for the 2016 Olympic, compared to 143 for London.

• Opinions by the players themselves are divided, with many being opposed to the sexualising of their sport and the focus on their outfits. A comparison is frequently drawn with the uniform of the men's beach volleyball teams:

Some more comparisons from the Egypt/Germany clash: