I think that beach volleyball has been on the better additions to the Olympic Games over the past decade. A very action-packed sport requiring great physical stanima in a very televisual environment. Although I don’t agree with the “skimpy costume” requirements for the women - not only is it sexist, it’s just plain unnecessary, if not uncomfortable.

I realise that sand is an ideal surface for this kind of sport, but why, why do they insist on calling it “beach” volleyball? Sure, it originated on the beaches of California, but the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre at Faliro is not actually what I would call a beach. Nor indeed are many international beach volleyball venues.

It was while I was watching Sunday’s women’s doubles match with Sona Novakova and Eva Celbova against Marrit Leenstra and Rebekka Kadijk that I thought to myself, “Huh?” Novakova and Celbova are from the Czech Republic, and Leenstra and Kadijk from that other great beach nation, the Netherlands. (Goodness, they’re lucky enough just to have land, never mind beaches).

A quick glance through the FIVB tour calendar for 2004 throws up some interesting locations for international beach volleyball, including downtown Berlin, Austria’s Klagenfurt Beach (pictured) and the Swiss alpine village of Gstaad.

Switzerland, indeed, have eight beach volleyballers competing at Athens, two female and six male, including the Laciga brothers, Paul and Martin.

Next thing you know, the Swiss will be entering a yacht in the America’s Cup. And winning.

The dream appeared shattered when he slipped on the starting block, fell into the water and was disqualified from the selection trial. Facing life-long humiliation and disgrace, he was spared when a team-mate made a noble and agonising sacrifice of his own spot in the team, assisted by the consoling words of a television station’s accounts department. It was the start of one of the most heart-warming comebacks in Australian sport since Warnie won the battle against his mum’s drugs.

Il Thorpista, the Prima Donna of Australian swimming, won the 400 metres freestyle gold medal on Saturday. That’s another empty space in his cabinet filled up. But the hardship suffered by Craig Stevens was not ignored as His Thorpness paid tribute to the Peter Gunn namesake.

One down, seven to go. Phelpsy won the 400 IM. Spitzy, are you worried yet?

I saw the last stages of a very exciting women’s volleyball game on SBS. Germany came from two sets down to beat Cuba 20-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 17-15 in two hours flat. Rather than trying to explain here, the play-by-play description on the Athens 2004 website will make it all clear…

In women’s basketball, the US beat New Zealand 99-47. Ouch. Brazil beat Japan 62-25. Double ouch. The Australian Opals, meanwhile, could only muster a twelve-point victory over Nigeria.

The Hockeyroos lost to Germany 3-1, the Matildas beat Greece 1-0, and the Aussie Spirit (err, that’s the softball team’s nickname) beat Japan 4-2. The US women’s soccer team beat Brazil 2-0.

Meanwhile, the Kostas and Katerina story gets even murkier. They say that they stacked their motorbike on the way to their drug test. And that they were picked up by a passer-by who drove them 30 kilometres to hospital. The good samaritan is now nowhere to be found, and there a no witnesses to the crash. Locals heard nothing.