Smog is spreading a toxic haze over hopes that the 2008 Beijing Olympics will be as superlative in sporting achievement as it will be in spending and glitz.
A miasma of ground-level ozone, fine dust and volatile organic compounds, spewed from factory chimneys and the tailpipes of cars on Beijing's congested roads, make the Chinese capital one of the world's dirtiest cities.
Experts in sports medicine say that, unless a massively expensive cleanup works, air pollution will cloud prospects for record-breaking in many disciplines.
Ozone at ground level irritates the airways, while fine particulate matter can lodge deep inside the lungs.
The result can be asthma attacks, bronchitis and impaired lung efficiency that, when combined to Beijing's traditionally high heat and humidity levels in August, are bound to wreak a toll.
"Impairment in performance will particularly affect endurance type of activities, such as long-distance runners, cycling, swimming, anything that lasts very long," says Marco Cardinale, head of research at the British Olympic Association.
"These athletes have high ventilation rates and high ventilation volumes, so they are exposing their lungs to more pollution -- and over a longer time."
Andrew Pipe, a professor at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and chief medical officer to the Canadian team at the 1992 Barcelona Games, says Beijing's pollution has been the big buzz among national Olympic organisations over the past year.
Specialists have been closely monitoring sporting events that have been held in Beijing, particularly the 2006 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) junior championships, seen as a testbed for Olympic problems.
The event was held in August, the same month as the Olympics, and some athletes said pollution levels may have hurt their performances.
Those most affected were those who competed later in the day when levels of ozone -- caused by the reaction between sunlight and exhaust gases -- typically peak.
What can be done to help the 10,000 athletes heading for the Games?
Very little can be done in advance, says Pipe.
Coaches are well-versed in training athletes to acclimatise to heat and humidity by using specialised indoor facilities at home and then sending them to the host country way ahead of the event.
But replicating Beijing's sick atmosphere is technically impossible and of course hazardous to the athlete.
As a result, the only real option is to limit exposure by arriving late, living in filtered air and dishing out face masks.
"Are we confident that the authorities will be able to address the respiratory problems up there? No, we are not," Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates said in May.
"We have had athletes up there who have experienced significant problems."
Australia's 500-plus athletes will be urged to complete their training at home or elsewere in Asia, and arrive in Bejing a matter of days before their competition. An asthma specialist will be part of its 50-strong medical team.
A similar tack is being taken by Britain, whose swimmers will prepare in Osaka, Japan, rather than in Beijing.
"Normally, for an Olympics, we would arrive in the host city 10 days in advance. But for Beijing, we won't arrive till three days before," Britain's Olympic swimming chief, Bill Sweetenham, told AFP.
Armed with more than 15 billion dollars for pollution control, Beijing is working frantically to meet the "green games" pledge it made back in 2001.
It has vowed that three pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide) will be brought to within acceptable limits set by UN World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
The density of particulate matter "will reach the level of major cities in developed countries," according to the pledge on Games website (http://en.beijing2008.cn/10/93/article211929310.shtml).
Source |
