IOC Says Beijing Air Pollution Poses Some Risk

(ATR) The International Olympic Committee's chief medical expert admits that Beijing's air pollution problem could pose some risk to endurance athletes competing in this summer's Games.

Arne Ljungqvist, chair of the IOC Medical Commission, says “there may be some risk” for athletes participating in events that include one hour continuous or more of high-level physical effort.

He cited potential problems for urban road cycling, mountain bike, marathon, marathon swimming, triathlon and road walk.

“The risks would be associated with prolonged high respiratory functions,” Ljungqvist told reporters in a teleconference Monday. “[Athletes] may breathe a lot of air that may be polluted.

“The risk is more related to the fact that they may not perform at the best level,” he said.

“It means we may not see many world records in unfavorable conditions.”

Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie, who suffers from asthma, has said he might not run in the event because of health fears due to Beijing's smog levels.

Ljungqvist admits that athletes with respiratory problems may suffer more than others at the Games. But he insists Gebrselassie's decision should not deter other asthmatic athletes from participating in the marathon and other endurance events.

And in keeping with recent IOC advice, Ljungqvist says that face masks for athletes are not necessary.

“Our experience and data do not support that this will become a problem for the vast majority of athletes participating in Beijing,” he said, emphasizing that heat and humidity would probably be the “major issues” rather than pollution.

Ljungqvist did not recommend any measures for athletes to combat pollution levels, saying only: “Athletes competing in Beijing will be there for a short period of time. It is a matter of adapting.”

Ljungqvist issued reassurances on Beijing's air quality to national Olympic committees, coaches and athletes. He said the findings of pollution data analysis from Beijing tests events in August 2007 are “better than I had expected”.

“I am confident we will have a situation in Beijing which is quite acceptable for the Olympic Games,” Ljungqvist said. “We feel the conditions will be good for athletes to compete.”

Ljungqvist was basing his comments on the evaluation of data, including temperature, wind, humidity and pollutants, taken by the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau from August 8 to 29, 2007.

There were no reports of health issues related to Beijing's air quality during the test events, he said.

Despite the findings indicating some risk for the outdoor endurance events, Ljungqvist does not expect any to be cancelled. However, they could be rescheduled.

The IOC plans to work with the international federations to put in place procedures that will allow a “plan B” to be activated for such events if necessary.

For these at-risk events, daily monitoring of air quality and weather conditions at venues will take place.

Reports from the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau will be delivered to the IOC and sports federations. Any decision to postpone the event would be a joint one made by the IOC and the relevant sports federation.

Beijing's air pollution has long been a concern of the IOC.

But Chinese authorities have made significant efforts to improve the air quality, reducing pollutants from factories and experimenting with the removal of vehicles from roads. The result is an increase in the number of blue sky days.

Admitting that this was the first time air pollution had become an issue for an Olympics, Ljungqvist defended the IOC's decision to award the Games to Beijing in 2001.

“No-one could have forecast the socio-economic explosion in Beijing and China, resulting in enormous industrial progress and its consequences,” he said.

“Who could tell that more than 1,000 new cars would be coming on to the streets every day?”

Ljungqvist said the Olympics have triggered a clean-up of the air quality and environment by Chinese authorities.

“Hopefully it will be a legacy of the Games... after the event they will go on with their air quality control program,” he said.

With reporting from Mark Bisson.For general comments or questions, click here