Women beach volleyball players get extra option to cover up in shorts at London Olympics
Posted March 27, 2012 10:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Female beach volleyball players will have more options to wear less revealing outfits at the London Olympics as the sport’s governing body seeks to respect countries’ cultural beliefs.
The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) said it will allow shorts and sleeved tops at the Olympics, as an option to the bikinis and body suits already permitted.
The uniform rule already applied to the five Continental Cup qualifiers for the Olympics involving 142 nations.
“Many of these countries have religious and cultural requirements so the uniform needed to be more flexible.” FIVB spokesman Richard Baker told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “Winners of the Continental Cups will qualify for the Olympics, so it has to be applied.”
The modified rule permits “shorts of a maximum length of three centimetres (1.18 inches) above the knee, and sleeved or sleeveless tops.”
Bikinis have helped define women’s beach volleyball, which became an Olympic medal event at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Players have typically opted to wear body suits only in cold weather.
“Up until now, athletes had the choice. They weren’t forced to wear a bikini,” Baker said.
FIVB rules on bikinis allow for “a maximum side width of seven centimetres (2.76 inches).”
Changes to the qualification format for the 24-team women’s lineup in London also brought cultural sensitivities into focus by encouraging more nations to compete.
Four years ago, qualification was based almost entirely on world rankings earned by competing in at least eight elite-level events.
The Continental Cup competitions, which began in July 2010, now offer direct routes to the Olympics.
The women’s Olympic beach volleyball tournament will be played July 28-Aug. 12 in a specially created stadium at Horse Guards Parade near Buckingham Palace.
Shorts and sleeved tops are also now allowed in matches on the season-long World Tour circuit, which is dominated by players from Brazil, the United States and Europe.
“We don’t think we will see much change (in uniforms) on the World Tour,” Baker said.
