The 28-year-old's naked image was plastered across billboards in Beijing to advertise sports drink Powerade.
Thousands of miles away, staff at the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) are keeping their fingers crossed that Romero will inspire a new generation of sportswomen.

Facing the daunting statistic that only one in five women take regular exercise, the UK charity devoted to getting more women into sport knows it's got a
problem.

According to the foundation, girls and boys start out with equal levels of activity, but by the time girls reach the age of 16, they are half as active as young men.
"Girls as young as seven stop playing sports because they don't want to seem 'unfeminine'," says WSFF chief executive Sue Tibballs.
"But with images of women like Rebecca looking strong,
successful and sexy, they might change their minds."

As Rebecca and 19 other successful female members of Team GB stormed the medal table at Beijing 2008, the profile of women's sport in Britain is hitting an all-time high, and Tibballs is keen to make the most of it.
"Usually only two per cent of sports media coverage features women, so being able to see women day after day is like another world," she said.

Hopefully the presence of the women's branch of Team GB on the front of magazines, news-papers and on the radio will help Tibballs and thousands of other parents and teachers prove to children that there's nothing cooler than a girl in a sports vest.

And at a time when female obesity levels are soaring, rates of activity are on the wane and women are struggling with their body image, Tibballs says that sport could be the answer.
"We are significantly less active than other countries like Australia and the Scandinavian countries. What was great about the Olympics was watching women use their bodies in a strong and confident way. Predominantly the women who are famous in our culture are slim or skinny – the size zero
generation. What kind of role model is that?
"It's all about creating that cultural shift where girls grow up to think that doing sport, being fit and healthy is a really aspirational and a good thing."

Get out there

FOR women aged 16 and over in England, the most popular
participation activities, after walking, are:-
17 per cent swimming
10 per cent gym
Five per cent recreational cycling
Four per cent athletics
(including road running and
jogging)
Three per cent aerobics

* For more information about the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation please go to www.wsf.org.uk