Line in sand as Georgians win battle of bikinis

A LINE may have been drawn in the sand in South Ossetia, but on the Olympic beach volleyball court yesterday, attack hits and accusations continued to fly.

Hours after their nations had declared an uneasy truce in the disputed border region, Russia and Georgia fought a battle in bikinis in Chaoyang Park.

Georgia triumphed, rallying from the brink of elimination to score a victory which will keep them in the competition, and send the Russians home.

Afterwards the Russians grumpily accused the Georgian players, who were both born and raised in Brazil, of parading under a flag of convenience.

“We were not playing against the Georgian team today,” sniffed one of the Russians, Natalia Uryadova, at a packed press conference afterwards.

“We were playing against the Brazilian team. If they are Georgian they would certainly have been influenced (by world events), but certainly they are not.”

Uryadova’s team-mate Alexandra Shiryaeva chipped in: “Of course they’re not Georgian. They don’t even know who the Georgian president is.”

The Georgian team are only too willing to concede that their beach volleyball tactics were not exactly hewn on the banks of the Black Sea.

Having missed out on the opportunity to represent their birth nation, Christine Santanna and Andrezza Chagas took up the invitation of the Georgian president’s wife, herself a keen beach volleyball player and fan.

“Of course I know who the president is,” retorted Santanna, who competes under the Georgian nickname, Saka. “It’s Mikheil Saakashvili, and I was with his wife here two days ago in the Village.

“I feel Georgian. I’ve got a Georgian and a Brazilian passport and we did this for the Georgian people. I really didn’t want this situation between the players. I respect them. I don’t want this to be a war between us.”

Their tenuous link to the country they represent will not dampen Georgian celebrations.

Two days ago, the small Georgian team voted to withdraw from the Games because of the events in their homeland. They were persuaded to stay by their president, and the next day, Nino Salukvadze won their first medal, a bronze in the 10m air pistol.