Olympian Loses Bet, Will Wear Mankini to Games

Australian shooter Russell Mark may have won gold and silver in previous Olympics, but he lost a pretty big bet this go-round—and he's now stuck parading through the opening ceremonies in London wearing a lime-green mankini. The not-exactly-fashionable swimsuit was popularized by Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat, and the 48-year-old will be donning it thanks to the fact that Carlton lost (in a "shock defeat," reports Reuters) to St. Kilda in the Australian Football League.

Mark quipped that maybe the loss wasn't "such a bad thing," considering the uniform his fellow countrymen will be wearing: green blazers and white pants. But the quip-of-the-day award goes to the Australian Olympic Committee rep who commented on the situation. "Russell is no spring chicken, his days of being a model are long gone," he observed, recommending Mark pass on the sartorial choice. "This will be his sixth Olympics and he is a chance to be named as flag bearer. Imagine the flag bearer out in front of our team in a mankini." Most importantly, "as we all know, the London weather is fickle and we would not want him to catch cold." (More mankini stories.)