Olympics: 'Gunky-looking sky' alarms U.S. athletes

Olympics: 'Gunky-looking sky' alarms U.S. athletes

When Iowa's portion of the more than 10,000 athletes converging on Beijing inhale the rarefied competitive air of the Olympics, concerns will linger about what else they'll be breathing.

Marathon world-record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia decided to compete in the 10,000 meters instead because of fears that exposure to polluted air during the longer race would cause issues related to his asthma.

The British Broadcasting Corp. reported in early July that Beijing organizers were failing to live up to their pledge to ensure air met World Health Organization standards outlined in their Olympic bid.
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The BBC used a hand-held detector to test the air, claiming it did not meet WHO guidelines on six of seven days - and pollution measured seven times higher than standards one day.

Chinese officials implemented strategies July 20 to decrease the haze, including a program to force half of Beijing's estimated 3.3 million cars off the road each day during the Games, which begin Aug. 8, while also halting large-scale factory and construction projects until the Olympics and Paralympics are complete.

Meanwhile, athletes such as U.S. cyclist Christine Thorburn wait - and wonder.

"Air quality definitely is a major concern - particularly for my event," said Thorburn, a California doctor who attended Pleasant Valley High School and Grinnell College. "They said it (pollution) is easy for it to be double of what you experience in L.A."

U.S. Olympic Committee officials discreetly developed air-filtration masks that will be available to athletes away from competition, while their British counterparts created masks that could be used while their athletes chase medals.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that "nearly 100 researchers from 20 institutes in countries including Japan, the U.S. and Germany are examining satellite images and sending up unmanned drones to sample China's air quality at high altitudes."

Hurdler Lolo Jones, a Des Moines Roosevelt graduate, saw firsthand the effects of pollution during a previous trip to Shanghai, China.

"It affected my clothes more so than my performance," said Jones, a medal contender in the 100-meter hurdles who now lives in Baton Rouge, La. "I was washing out one of my shirts, and like straight black stuff was coming out of it. It was definitely pollution."
Mask-ing concerns?

USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said American officials' confidence in the air its 596 athletes will breathe while in Beijing continues to grow.

Seibel said Chinese organizers used the pollution-fighting practices being employed now during an economic summit with African leaders in 2006. U.S. officials were in Beijing during the summit, and saw results.

"We're actually optimistic," Seibel said. "The (Beijing) organizing committee recognizes the importance that the air quality is at a level that is safe and suitable to elite competition.

"The week of that summit, the air was as a good as we've seen."

Still, U.S. Olympic leaders are making simple filtration masks available to athletes away from competition.

The masks were developed to filter specific matter found in the air in Beijing.

"It is not developed for training or competitive rigor," said Seibel, though later noting some sports might consider it for limited training sessions. "If it was ever to be used, it would be used during a leisure period. It wouldn't stand up in training or competitive conditions. And it wasn't developed with that in my mind. This is just as important for psychological reasons as physiological reasons.

"In most cases, the precautions we take are unnecessary. But our job is to be prepared."

USOC officials were asked to quantify the financial and total resource commitment to the mask project and air-quality preparations, but said they were unable to immediately provide that type of information.

Seibel said the USOC invested more, by contrast, to develop cooling vests with Nike to combat heat and humidity in China.

He admitted, however, that air-quality conditions could change during the Games.

"It could vary from one day to the next," he said.

The Associated Press reported that Beijing's air pollution index for particulate matter, a major pollutant, fell to 90 on Tuesday from 96 a day earlier. Anything below 50 is graded as good air quality.

The air pollution index was 118 Saturday, which is above the API level considered moderate for air quality, the AP reported. Those standards, however, are less stringent than World Health Organization guidelines for clean air.

The World Bank measured levels of particulate matter in 1994 for Summer Olympic host cities in the last quarter-century and Beijing tops the list at 89 - with Athens a distant second at 43. Pittsburgh and Los Angeles top the list of the most polluted cities in the United States, according to the American Lung Association - though current data comparing Beijing to American cities is difficult to locate and verify, and many times is contradictory.

A group of University of Iowa students are in Beijing to help Olympic organizers gather comments from athletes and coaches for media use in wrestling and tennis.

Emily Doolittle of Cedar Rapids said pollution-filled skies prevented fellow students and her from realizing they were living near a mountain range until the second week they were in Beijing.

"When looking out of our windows, all we see in the distance is a dusty, grayish, slightly brown, gunky-looking sky," Doolittle said.

Doolittle said students also experienced impacts to allergies and sinus conditions, along with discolored phlegm.

"This might be overshare, but ... phlegm is a vital part of the body's air-filtering system, and if it's turning gray, you can just imagine what is going into your lungs," she said.

Thorburn said the availability of masks is a sign of excessive planning.

"They're preparing us, potentially, for the worst," Thorburn said.
'I'm going to run'

U.S. artistic gymnastics coach Liang Chow will rely on Beijing organizers and USOC officials to best prepare athletes for any potential air-quality concerns.

Chow, the Chinese-born coach of all-around medal favorite Shawn Johnson of West Des Moines, returns to his home country focused - but on Johnson, rather than the skies.

"I haven't been back for many years, so I don't know about that," Chow said. "Somebody will take care of that.

"I'm focused on preparing my athlete."

Jones and other American athletes are unsure about what to expect in Beijing one breath to the next, but the current U.S. national champion is sure of one thing.

"If I have to choke gallons of smoke to run - I'm going to run," Jones said. "It's the Olympics."