NBC Olympics Site Spotlights Ambiguously Gay Guessing-Game Fun

We’d heard of some unauthorized twaddle going around focusing on the gay undercurrent of the Summer Olympics, but as far as we’re concerned, NBC is doing some of most trailblazing work this year by playing out Beijing’s homoerotic currency right in the mainstream. Nowhere is it more evident than the network’s Olympics Web site, where after a sleek, soaking stretch of Water Cube drama, a new slideshow today invites readers to guess the rippling abs whose owners made it through the historic week that was.

Some are more challenging than others, but not knowing which Australian “recently dropped backstroke to focus on butterfly” or which American “has dominated his best stroke since 2001″ (hint: not Michael Phelps!) hardly seems to detract from the guessing-game fun. All that’s left now is to determine which of the fledgling Adonises will be first to attempt an unwitting, towel-snapping crossover opposite the latter-day equivalent of Steve Guttenberg and a diving dozen of West Village extras.

(Read more coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games.)

• Ab Fab: Guess the Swimmer [NBC]