BEIJING—From scantily clad, gyrating go-go dancers at the beach volleyball to Germany’s finest hockey player baring all for a steamy photo-shoot, sex sells at the Olympics.

Katharina Scholz has spent as much time in Beijing explaining away her decision to join sailor Petra Niemann, judoka Romy Tarangul and canoeist Nicole Reinhardt in Playboy as she has discussing her part in helping Germany reach the semifinals of the field hockey tournament.

“For me it was a good opportunity, and maybe when I look back after a few years I will be proud of it,” said the 25-year-old Scholz.

“Not everybody can go on the cover of Playboy. I did it because I am confident of my body and myself. It wasn’t a group decision ... Everyone decided it for themselves.”

Other pin-ups of the Games have also been happy to pose in and out of competition.

US swimmer Amanda Beard was naked in Playboy last year and made headlines in Beijing even before the Games started, when she used the Athletes’ Village as a backdrop to unveil a nude photo of herself in a poster backing an anti-animal cruelty cause.

In the advertisement, a naked Beard is kneeling in water, her left hand covering her right breast and her right hand on her right hip as she stares into the camera with a huge American flag filling the entire background.

“I’ve done Playboy. I’m comfortable with my body,” Beard said of her willingness to shed her clothes for a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals anti-fur campaign. “I go to the office in a swimsuit.”

Her form in the pool was not so striking as she failed to qualify for the 200m breaststroke final.

Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice, a triple gold medalist in Beijing, opted for a series of raunchy shots in FHM after causing a sensation in April when her personal website featured her dressed in a tight-fitting, policewoman’s uniform.