Beijing Air Quality Concerns Sports Officials

So will the 2008 Beijing Olympics go down in history as the air pollution games?

The United Nations Environment Program released a report Thursday that praised Chinese authorities for much of the work they've done to clean up the environment in preparation for next year's Summer Games. But it noted that air quality remains a "stubborn" problem as "levels of small particles in the atmosphere [in Beijing] ... which are hazardous to health, often greatly exceed World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines."

Jill Geer, a spokeswoman for USA Track and Field, says the problem can be bad. But she also says the Chinese authorities can make a big difference in a hurry.

Geer was in Beijing for the 2001 World University Games. She told me that the day before the student games were to start, her roommate called her to the window. In previous days, she could only see a half-mile or so because of the poor air quality, but that day, she could see much more of the city.

The rumors were that authorities had shut down the factories around the city. And that's exactly what Dr. David Martin, a member of the track and field organization's sports medicine and science committee, recommends this time around. He says one of the things China should do is close factories and take cars off the road in Beijing at least three weeks before the games.

Martin, who specializes in exercise physiology at Georgia State University, says two key pollutants, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, come from cars and factories.

"The last thing in the world the Chinese want," he adds," is for these games to go down in history as the pollution games. And while shutting cars and factories down will cost a lot, it will be pennies compared to what they've already spent on the venues and preparation, and pennies compared to the cost of losing face."

6:07 PM ET | 10-26-2007 | permalink