As athletes prepare to compete in the Olympics in Beijing, they have been seeking ways to deal with what's expected to be the biggest performance factor of these games — the chronic air pollution of China's capital city.
Solutions range from high protection to low exposure. The U.S. Olympic Committee is recommending that its athletes protect their lungs when they're not actually competing by wearing specially developed surgical-style masks.
The U.S. and many other countries also have sought to reduce athletes' exposure to pollution by sending their teams to train in places that mimic Beijing in everything but its poor air quality.
Forecasting Pollution
George Thurston, a professor of environmental medicine, has been watching weather forecasts. He says the outlook for clean air on the opening day of the games isn't good. Thurston, who teaches at New York University's School of Medicine, says winds from the south could blow pollution into the capital from China's industrial heartland.
"Their control measures so far haven't been very successful," Thurston says. "They have controlled local sources, but it's a regional problem." He warns that there will be days with very bad pollution.
Many countries are trying to minimize their athletes' contact with Beijing's pollution by keeping them out of the city until just before they're due to compete. Australia sent its track and field athletes to a training camp in Hong Kong, where they could work out in heat and humidity like that of Beijing, without the same degree of air pollution.
The U.S. triathlon team actually tried to make the ability to withstand heat and humidity a part of the equation in selecting this year's competitors. It held its Olympic trials in Tuscaloosa, Ala., hoping that the climate there would simulate conditions in Beijing, but the weather on the day of trials was disappointingly pleasant.
Advantages In Getting Used To Pollution?
Scientists differ over the degree to which an athlete can get used to pollution, in the same way that she or he can get used to competing in hot, muggy weather. Dr. Jonathan Samet says there's no scientific evidence that athletes from more polluted areas will somehow be better able to handle the air in Beijing than athletes who are used to competing in cleaner air.
Samet heads the epidemiology department at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. He says there's evidence that athletes can adapt somewhat to higher ozone levels in the air over several days, but other pollutants, such as particulates, can make matters worse as they accumulate in the lungs.
But Thurston says he thinks there will be "more than the usual home-field advantage for Chinese athletes." He says his studies have shown that some runners are more affected by pollution than others. Since the top Chinese athletes have excelled under more polluted conditions, Thurston says, it's more likely that they are not among the group most affected by unclean air.
Some Athletes Won't Hang Out In The Olympic Village
Both Thurston and Samet think there's merit to the plan of having athletes avoid as much exposure to Beijing's air as possible. The U.S. triathlon team, for instance, plans to be in the Chinese capital just long enough for the opening ceremonies, then move on to South Korea to train and get used to the climate and the time zone. They'll return to Beijing just before their races on Aug. 18 and 19.
When they're in Beijing, some American athletes plan to wear surgical-style masks right up until the time they compete. The plan has raised concerns that the masks may be seen as insulting to China, especially if some athletes chose to wear them during the opening ceremonies. The implication would be that athletes feel China has reneged on its promise to clean up Beijing's air quality before the games.
Some Olympic teams are trying to cope with more than the respiratory effects of Beijing's pollution. Some say there's a significant problem seeing through the stinging haze. Britain's women's field hockey team is wearing red contact lenses as a way to sharpen their vision in the smog. It's a precaution that has the added advantage of giving the wearer a demonic look that's apt to unsettle rival players.
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