Beach Volleyball/Volleyball

Olympic Debut

The popularity of beach volleyball increased when it appeared at the Olympics in Atlanta 1996 for the first time. The event remains one of the most popular spectacles at the Summer Olympics and epitomizes celebrating beach-centric culture. Olympic beach volleyball matches involve loud contemporary music and dancing female cheerleaders in bikinis to keep the spectators’ interest during breaks in match play. Prior to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, controversy arose over the uniform regulations for women athletes mandated by the FIVB and the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

The rules stated that women players were required to wear bikini bottoms (or a full piece high-cut bathing suit), while male players were required to wear knee length slightly baggy shorts. The president of the FIVB, Ruben Acosta, defended the bikini bottom decision as an attempt to make the game more appealing to spectators. Feminist scholars have questioned the rationality of such a uniform regulation and have argued that the rule perpetuates sexual objectification of elite women athletes. Because of the uniform regulations, women beach volleyball players are often photographed in mainstream media images in highly sexualized positions. Additionally, research indicates that many elite beach volleyball players have suffered injuries from overtraining their abdominal muscles and others have even had breast enhancements to ensure that they look appealing in their uniforms.

Beach volleyball culture seems to be surrounded by sexualization, for instance, the Xbox video game- Extreme Beach. Players choose from a pool of characters, all of whom sport bikinis; furthermore, gamers can enter a secret code in order to maneuver the characters to strip down and play naked. Despite these controversies, beach volleyball remains very popular at the Summer Olympics.