Hardly dressed for success

BEIJING -- As anyone who has watched any women's beach volleyball can attest, there's not much to the uniforms.

And I'm not talking about the design. I'm talking about the amount of fabric. Centerfolds have been photographed wearing more.

But apparently officials with very good eyes detected something amiss with the uniforms that Mexico's Mayra Garcia and Bibiana Candelas intended to use in their first match Sunday because the bathing suits were banned, leaving Garcia and Candelas subject to disqualification.

So Garcia and Candelas -- who lives in Los Angeles, where she played indoor volleyball for USC -- borrowed some uniforms from Germany for their first-round loss to Brazil.

According to the Mexican daily El Universal, the uniforms the Mexicans brought had three problems: They were made by Atletica, which is not an approved Olympic sponsor, and the Mexican flag on the front of the top was in the wrong place. And the logo of the Mexican Olympic Committee, also on the top, isn't permitted at all.

So the Mexicans played Sunday in Germany's colors, black with red and gold trim. On Tuesday they were back in more traditional colors, wearing sky blue tops and white shorts, in a victory over Greece.

"Our first match served to relieve the pressure," Candelas told the newspaper.

-- Kevin Baxter

Photo: Mexico's Bibiana Candelas practices at the Chaoyang Park beach volleyball grounds on Aug. 2 in the uniform that was banned because it did not meet Olympic specifications. Credit: Diego Azubel / European Pressphoto Agency