Olympic spirit? AOC clamping down on Nude Olympics in Adelaide

Nudists in Australia are facing a battle to stop angry sporting officials from banning the "Nudo Lympics".

Temperatures are soaring at the Australian branch of the International Olympics Committee over the event, which is scheduled for 2014.

There is fury at the prospect of amateur athletes running naked around a beach for the very unofficial Games on Maslin Beach in Adelaide, South Australia.

Organisers of the Nudo Lympics are getting puffed-up letters from lawyers insisting the name of their event is "unlawful".

"There can be no suggestion other than that you have chosen this name because of the connotation of 'the Olympics'," lawyer Miriam Stiel of Allens Practice told organisers David and Debbie Pillar.

But the Pillars are standing firm, telling the Australia Olympics Committee they "need to get a life".

David insisted it would cause a huge "problem" to change the name." The event has used the "Olympics" reference in its name since its inception in 1983.

"Thousands of people know the event as the Maslin's Olympics," he said.

"The people that knew the old name may not associate the new name with the previous event and may not recognise it as the same event with a new name.

"The previous name of the event had been used for 30 years with no problems or objections and people associate the event with the Maslin Olympics name."

Events include a sandcastle competition, doughtnut eating and water balloon throwing.

A statement on the Nudo website read: "The name of this event has been changed due to threats from The Australian Olympic Committee. They have forbidden us from using the word in the future - they need to get a life if they think we are a threat to them."

An official at AOC told the Southern Times Messenger: "The word Olympic and the Olympic symbols are covered by [Australia's] Olympic Insignia Protection Act."