Swimming Playboy model Beard to bare all in fur protest

Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard poses during an autograph session for the July issue of Playboy in New York June 14, 2007. Beard appeared on the cover of the July 2007 issue of Playboy.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Olympic swimming champion Amanda Beard, who appeared in Playboy magazine in 2007, is to appear naked in an advertising campaign protesting against fashion furs that will be launched at the Beijing Olympics on Wednesday.

The campaign is on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which said the "sultry" U.S. swimmer would attend the launch, that features photos of her, in front of the Water Cube swimming venue, two days before the Games open.

"Seeing animals slaughtered to be worn as fashion is awful to me, so I'm definitely against wearing fur ... I'd much rather go naked than ever put a dead animal on my body," PETA quoted Beard as saying.

The 26-year-old came to prominence at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when as a 14-year-old she took her teddy bear with her on to the victory podium.

She won gold in the 200m breaststroke at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and, billed as one of the world's sexiest athletes, has also appeared in Sports Illustrated and FHM magazines.

(Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

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