The Naked Truth With Amanda Beard.

The games have begun and who takes you inside the Olympic Village for an athlete's perspective? David Hollander. Fresh off her PETA poster dust-up, Amanda Beard, the seven-time medal winner and former world record holder in the women's breaststroke gives the Opening Ceremonies and her accommodations a four-star rating, can't wait to buy something 'Made in China' and hears a breaststroke joke she's never heard before.Here's her interview:


DAVE HOLLANDER: Who new that an innocent little PETA poster would become an international incident?



AMANDA BEARD: I know. It's kind of crazy. But it's not as drama-filled and crazy as everyone is making it out to be. The picture itself is, well you know, I'm not actually naked. I'm covering myself. You can't see anything. And I only spent about 10 minutes with the media: I walked outside the village, hung out with them for a little bit and then walked back inside. So, it wasn't so crazy. It's fine. Drawing up a little stir and getting attention for a good cause -- I have no problem with that.


DH: If it wasn't about you being naked then why did the Chinese government get so freaked out?



AB: I don't know. Maybe just because of the possibilities of things happening. Or because they heard that I'd be naked or shedding my clothing or something -- anything to make people nervous. For me, I didn't think it was too crazy or outgoing. It was almost like basically wearing a bikini. I don't know. People get excited about things they're unsure about.


DH: And, PETA has nothing to do with the Olympics or the Chinese government.



AB: The thing with PETA is they have very kind of in-your-face tactics so I think people get a little nervous about some of the ways they may approach things. But with me working with them, I get to mix in my own attitude and my own flair with them to get my word out and our message out.


DH: That's cool. I mean, it wasn't like you were wearing, say, a pollution mask or anything like that.



AB: No, it wasn't a jab at any country. It was an overall, like, "the world" message. It's as much saying it the U.S. as to any country Europe or any country in Asia. It's all over.


DH: Do you wear a mask around the village?



AB: I haven't. It's hot and humid here but I've been training outdoors since I arrived here and I haven't had any problem with the air.


DH: How is it over there in the village in general? How much tension is there between the Chinese government and the athletes?



AB: We're pretty lucky because we're really secluded from any of that. All the Chinese workers inside the village are extremely sweet and very accommodating. Maybe I'll see something different when I'm outside the village but as far as I can tell everything has been pretty good.


DH: Have any of the Chinese citizens tried to slip you note saying "Get me outta here" -- anything like that?



AB: No, not yet.


DH: You've been to three other Olympics. Compare the conditions in this Olympic village with other three?



AB: Things here are very well-landscaped. Beautiful gardens and ponds. The accommodations themselves are great. I remember my first time being in Athens. Nothing was finished. There was dirt everywhere and people still building things. They're definitely on top of things here. There's definitely no lack of workers, obviously. The food is kind of the same everyday. You bored with it quickly, but it is edible and good. So, I haven't found much to complain about yet. Except that I don't get very many towels.


DH: Compared to your past other Olympics, how would you rate their Opening Ceremonies on scale of 1-10?



AB: I heard that, Athens spent $30 million on their opening ceremonies and China spent $300 million. And they had like 15,000 performers involved. I was impressed. I couldn't understand how everyone was so precise and perfect. And they looked like they'd been practicing for years on this. When us athletes were watching it from the our room we were like "Wait, what's going on? I don't get it. Are those people? It has to be machines."


DH: On Team USA, which of the swimmers seems most chummy with the Chinese officials? I'd probably say someone like Dara Torres.



AB: Oh, she's chummy with everybody!


DH: In the U.S. it's not uncommon to see a product label that says "Made in China." How much of the Chinese products in China do you think are made in China?



AB: I know! I was like "Man, I can get everything here!" Whether it's actually made or built here and I can probably get it a lot cheaper . So I want to go shopping when I'm done - hit up the markets. This country is humongous. If you ever thought the U.S. is big and we have lot of people, take a look at China which is three, four times the size of the U.S. with 1.4 billion people living in it. I think Beijing has 30 million alone in one city. China has been a really different experience than anywhere else.


DH: How has being in this strange place and whole PETA incident distracted you from what you're really there for: the 200-meter breaststroke?



AB: So far it hasn't distracted me because we are so confined to the Olympic village. So as much as people want to say the PETA thing is going to distract me and I do all these outside things, I spent 10 minutes going outside the village to talk to the press about the PETA thing and then I came right back in. No one bothers me. I go to the dining hall. I go to swim practice. I sit around and watch movies. It's hard to not be focused on your task at hand because there's not much to do except think about what lies ahead.


DH: Speaking about what lies ahead, why don't you tell us now see we can all avoid unnecessary trouble: what other demonstrations do you have planned for the games?



AB: None so far. Swimming starts this evening, so I'm not doing anything until swimming ends. I'll be running around with Access Hollywood doing some work with them. That'll be really fun. Then there's all the parties. I'll go see the Great Wall, the ancient city and all those different things you don't get to see while you're in the village.


DH: No medal platform stunt ready to go?



AB: No. Probably just the good old national anthem and hanging out with my family.


DH: I notice you've gone blonde for the games, and I'm sure you heard a million breaststroke jokes but I wanted to throw this one by you: A blonde, brunette and redhead woman decide to compete in a breaststroke race across the English Channel... Have you heard this one yet?



AB: No.


DH: The brunette came in first, the redhead second. The blonde finally reached the shore completely exhausted. After being revived with blankets and a drink she remarked, "I don't want to complain, but I'm pretty sure those other two girls used their arms."



AB: That's a good one. I haven't heard that one yet. I'll be sure to pass that one along.

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