Olympic Officials Want to Clear the Air

Officials say that athletes' fears for their health -- or even merely of miserable conditions for competition -- could create a new dilemma for Beijing organizers: a rash of withdrawals from outdoor endurance events. Athletes that follow the lead of Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, who last week announced his decision to skip the marathon because of air-quality concerns, would prove extremely embarrassing to the Chinese government.

"I was in the city in August and I know what the extreme conditions of pollution, heat and humidity are," Gebrselassie told the Spanish news agency EFE yesterday, according to the Associated Press. "It's going to be the hardest marathon in history. . . . I'd love to go for it, but health is my first priority."

During the Olympics, IOC medical commission members and affected international sports federations will jointly decide each morning whether it was safe to proceed with scheduled endurance events, including the marathon, triathlon, race walking, urban road cycling, mountain biking and marathon swimming, Ljungqvist said.

The IOC will rely on its own daily monitoring of air quality and weather conditions, as well as reports from the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau, which supplied information to the IOC, through Beijing Olympic organizers, for its recent analysis.

The possibility of postponements of certain Olympic events was first raised by IOC President Jacques Rogge last year, but no specifics were offered. Olympic events have been postponed in the past for weather reasons, such as when a blizzard hits the ski slopes the morning of a competition.

The IOC medical commission reached its conclusions after four independent, international air-quality experts with no connection to sport analyzed environmental data collected in Beijing last August that included readings of five pollutants, Ljungqvist said. The data were evaluated on the basis of the World Health Organization's 2005 interim target standards, he said.

The results, Ljungqvist said, actually were better than he had expected. The IOC noted that no health issues related to air quality were reported by any of the team physicians at various test events last August or the 2006 IAAF Junior World Championships in Beijing. The vast majority of athletes in Beijing, he said, should have no health problems.

Ljungqvist also said Olympic officials expect conditions to be improved this August from the previous two years, noting the Chinese government has promised to close factories, keep cars off the road and take other measures to clean the skies.

"There is an awareness in Beijing . . . that pollution is an issue for the Olympic Games and they are taking it very seriously," Ljungqvist said.