Slim and the beautiful!

Only slim, cute and tall women need apply for work as hostesses for ceremonies at next year’s Beijing Olympics, organisers said on Tuesday.

They must have stunning figures and measure between 1.68 metres (5’6’’) and 1.78 metres in height, well over the 1.58-metre average for Chinese women, said Zhao Dongming, director of the cultural activities department for the Beijing Olympic Organising Committee.

Zhao is in charge of the search for 380 women aged between 18 and 25 to serve as hostesses at medal ceremonies at Olympic venues and another 180 for work at the opening ceremony and flag-raising events.
“We want them to be young and beautiful, and be well-rounded individuals as well,” he said.

A knockout out of the ring

A New York woman sued Olympic boxer Oscar de la Hoya for $100 million on Thursday, saying she was coerced into agreeing not to sell photographs of him dancing around a hotel room in women’s clothing.

Milana Dravnel, who the New York Post and New York Daily News reported had met de la Hoya at a strip club where she worked, said the agreement was made after she had already sold some of the images to a Hollywood photo agency for $70,000.

The lawsuit, filed in New York State Court, said that amount was ‘below market value’ for the photos, which were widely disseminated. In one of the images, de la Hoya appears in a black fishnet bodysuit and black heels. In another, he is wearing a white tutu. It is not known whether the photos, apparently taken at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Philadelphia, were doctored.

Supermums catch the eye

A series of successes by recent mothers has prompted questions whether childbirth, far from spelling the end of a sporting career, can actually boost an athlete’s performance.

Paula Radcliffe’s sensational New York marathon win this month, after having her first child in January, followed Jana Rawlinson’s return from childbirth to win world 400M hurdles gold in Osaka in August.

Japan also cheered as double Olympic judo champion Ryoko Tani won her seventh under-48-kg world crown — and her first as a mum — in September.

All three said the rigours of pregnancy and labour had improved them as athletes by giving them more confidence and even making them stronger.

“I do think it gives you an extra inner strength as well and extra balance as a person,” Radcliffe said. “This was about establishing myself to all the people who thought having a baby would be the end of my career.” Swollen breasts, a loose pelvis and, in the case of a Caesarean section, damaged abdominal muscles pose a significant challenge to the returning sportswoman, affecting not just fitness but also balance, experts say.