Sharon, for one, just moved from Queensland state to work. "I came specifically because I knew it would be busy for the Olympics," she said recently, late in the afternoon. Really, it was early in the day for her, since dancers like Sharon can work until 5 a.m. if business is steady.

The previous night, before the opening ceremonies, had been her first at Men's Gallery, a tabletop dancing club in the heart of Sydney's business district. She took home about $500 (about $275 U.S.) and figured that would double during the Games. "I came specifically because I knew it would be busy for the Olympics. And, I would be expecting to make good money," Sharon said. "If a girl has half a brain in her head, this is the place to be."

Sharon is one of hundreds, potentially thousands, of sex workers who've streamed into Sydney to grab a piece of the action during the Olympics. The dancer and swimsuit model is from Australia's Far North -- the Down Under equivalent of the United States' Deep South on this continent where the cities are smaller, the pace a bit slower. "Where I'm from, you don't normally get those kinds of nights until you have the sailing ships come in, like the Navy. The Americans," she said, and smiled.

Throughout the city, clubs and shops in the industry have been madly recruiting to beef up their ranks. "We'll never have too many girls," said John Etchells, general manager of Men's Gallery and two other tabletop dancing clubs in Sydney. He's scouting nationwide for staff, advertising in newspapers, magazines -- even on TV.

"We'll recruit every day of the week. I mean, I recruited a girl at half past 5 yesterday afternoon who walked in here." Etchells was still in the office, so he conducted an impromptu interview. "She was ready to go," he said, "so she worked at 9:30 last night." The new recruit was from New Zealand, and had worked in the U.S. and other cities in Australia, but not Sydney. Until now. But it's not just dancers who have come to Sydney focused on Olympic gold. Prostitutes plan to put in top performances, too, during the Games.

Prostitution is legal in Sydney and, indeed, in much of Australia. (In 1995, legislation was passed in New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, decriminalizing and regulating prostitution.) "Our brothels are the best in the world," said Fiona Patten, operations officer at Sharon Austen Ltd., an adult erotica company that listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in May. Praising local government oversight, Patten said, "It's one of the only councils in the world that has developed a health and safety policy for the sex industry."

A range of government agencies, including the state health department and attorney general's office, help fund the Sex Workers Outreach Project. Known as SWOP, the advocacy group offers advice and services to sex workers on health, employment and safety issues, educational resources -- even legal and financial matters, like taxes. (For example, a 10 percent goods and services tax went into effect in Sydney in July; it applies to sex services. Workers have to charge customers and remit the money to the government.)

Many people from places where prostitution isn't decriminalized "are going to be pleasantly surprised at what they find in a legalized sex industry," said Swan. Whatever their impressions, tourists won't "have to be looking over their shoulders when they walk in a brothel door," he added.

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