Saturday, July 28, 2012

Olympic officials changed the dress code for women's beach volleyball to appease Muslims; US players will keep wearing their sexy bikinis

LONDON (NYP) — They’re going to be the cheekiest gals in London this summer.

Olympian Misty May-Treanor and her fellow competitors on the US women’s beach volleyball team vowed yesterday to keep wearing their sexy bikinis at the upcoming Games — despite a new rule that lets female players compete in dowdy shorts and T-shirts.

“We’re not uncomfortable in our bikinis,” said team member Jen Kessy.

“Growing up in southern California, that’s what you wear from when you’re a little kid to now in the summertime.”

Treanor said she loves to compete in her skimpy, bottom-baring bikini because “what you see is what you get — there’s no airbrushing.”

“I grew up on the beach, grew up in a bikini,” said May-Treanor, who has won two gold medals with her partner, Kerri Walsh.

Olympic officials changed the dress code for the racy sport — in which teams of two compete against each other — to soothe the concerns of nations where religion dictates that women wear more than skimpy swimsuits.

Now competitors can wear what they want — although it could wind up making the Olympics’ sexiest sport look more like a weekend rec league.

US team members, though, said there is nothing that would make them spike their tight bikinis.

“This is the most comfortable thing for us to wear,” Kessy said. “We can style our bikinis however we want. They can be bigger or smaller.

“If it is cold, we will put clothes on. But we won’t be playing in shorts. For us, that’s not comfortable. You get sand everywhere in the pockets. But for others, it’s now their choice.’’

Sometimes, even the Americans wear more clothes when the weather gets chilly.

But that is not likely at the London Games, as the thermometer hit 86 yesterday and was expected to be hot throughout the Olympics, which start Friday night.

The US team expects it to be hot even during night matches.

“If the weather stays like this, we’ll be in our bikinis all night,” said Kessy’s partner, April Ross.

Although the Americans will keep playing with their sexy bikinis, Kessy said she and her teammates won’t be holding any competitors’ fashion choices against them.

“We want women of all different religions to be able to play our sport,” Kessy said, “And to not be able to play because of the gear is not OK.”