Good-looking and increasingly successful in the sexy world of beach volleyball, Xu Linyin could easily chase the limelight in Los Angeles where he has been training.

China's Xu Linyin (R) and Wu Penggen (L) react after losing their match against Germany's David Klemperer and Eric Koreng in their men's round of 16 beach volleyball match at Beijing's Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground on August 16, 2008 during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. [Agencies]

Instead, the 2.02m tall "Tiny", as he is known, wants to keep going with the normal life he was living before he was scouted for beach volleyball and became a medal contender at the Beijing Olympics.

"I just want to go back home and keep going to university. I'm studying French and I need to get back to it," Xu told Yahoo Sports after he and partner Wu Penggen lost in the last 16.

The 22-year-old from Hebei province has won a huge new following at the Beijing Olympics but he's not going to let it go to his head.

"It's cool," he said as another group of girls giggled looking at their digital cameras. "I'm just glad they're all enjoying themselves."