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13 Aug 2008 12:23 PM

Olympians Sizzling Bodies May Be Too Hot for China

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

If you needed incentive to get your body in shape then the Summer Olympics came just in time. Good gracious, have you seen the killer bods these elite athletes are sporting? Seriously, U.S. swimmer Dara Torres could have ignited the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony via spontaneous combustion had she simply marched into the stadium wearing her bikini. Her body is so ripped I try to block out the fact that she gave birth just two years ago.

Michael Phelps is cut like a rack of lamb, as is the entire U.S. men's gymnastics team (or all the gymnasts for that matter). The cyclists are shredded, the track and field stars are buff beyond belief, heck, even the Chinese women, who are just on hand to present the medals were chosen based on their measurements (all must be between 5'6" and 5'8" and weigh no more than 115 pounds).

The Olympic Games are likely doing one of two things to people these days. They are either inspiring individuals to get moving or they are adding to people's depression and motivating them to drown their sorrows (regarding their poor body image) in gallons of ice cream. Hopefully, you fall into the former category rather than the latter.

Smoking hot bodies abound in Beijing right now, but in some cases the exposure has been a bit much for Chinese officials.

A few days ago Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amanda Beard was forced to launch her naked, anti-fur campaign poster outside the Athletes' Village just hours after Chinese authorities canceled a planned unveiling at a local hotel.

According to reports, Chinese security managers visited the hotel where the official news conference had been scheduled and simply shut down the event without going into specifics as to why they decided to do so.

Beard's poster for the animal rights group PETA features the reigning 200-meter breaststroke champion in the buff standing in front of the U.S. flag and the slogan "Be comfortable in your own skin. Don't wear fur."

The 26-year-old four-time Olympian has posed nude in men's magazines before and said she decided to participate in the PETA campaign because she loves animals and was horrified to see how fur was produced for fashion in some places.

In the end Beard and her hot body refused to let Chinese officials silence her. She arranged the unveiling outside the Athletes' Village and police and security didn't interfere with her presentation.

Some reports say Chinese officials classified the ad as "too sexy." Beard agreed that the ad was really designed for the U.S. market, but said she was still surprised that she was made to find another venue to unveil it.

Earth to Amanda Beard--this is a country that eats dogs and prides itself on the conservative appearances of its residents. Did you really think they would embrace a PETA ad featuring a sizzling hot naked woman standing in front of an American flag?

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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