The world's media are exposing more of Olympic athletes' bodies this year than ever before, boosting ratings and periodical sales while coming closer to the original Olympic spirit: the cult of the body.
Playboy's September issue fields its own team - without those sweaty shirts and shorts -- including American Mary Sauer, whose vaulting pole provides her only cover, and backstroke swimmer Haley Clark, shown one piece short of a one-piece swimsuit.
Covergirl Amy Acuff is shown well shod in her high-jump shoes - but nothing else.
"During the Olympics, it's a first," according to Playboy publicist Lauren Melone. Playboy carried nudes of a German Olympic skater in 1998, she said, but added that "Katarina Witt's pictures were published after the Games were over."
The US edition of FHM (For Him Magazine) for September covers five US athletes in skimpy attire, including swimmer Amanda Beard, who had appeared in Maxim's August issue - all grown up since she mounted the podium in Atlanta in 1996 to receive her gold medal, Teddy bear in hand.