Olympic Beach Babes

Watching beach volleyball on a bright sunny day in Beijing you could almost think you had been transported to Rio or Sydney's Bondi beach. This was especially true when Beijing's own bikini-clad cheerleaders came out to play and gave an otherwise serious sporting event a carnival atmosphere. During every rest break for the volleyball players, the cheerleaders entertained the crowd by dancing to rock music. The volleyball stadium at Chaoyang Park is one of the many temporary venues set up for the games. It's a modern structure that holds around 12,000 people. Despite its size, the open design made the venue feel quite intimate. Before the Olympic Games brought beach volleyball to Beijing, I had never seen girls in bikinis in Beijing. It was a nice surprise to see them at the games and for them to be such an integral part of the whole experience, especially when the Chinese team was on the court. They chanted, Zhong Guo Dui, Jia You ("Come on China team"), to get the spectators on their feet.

Olympic Beach Babes

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