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Smog set to 'cut performances by 20%'
Mark Prigg1 Aug 2008
Pollution levels in Beijing could affect athletes' performances by up to 20 per cent, experts warned today.
They say levels of harmful pollutants in the air could also leave competitors vulnerable to respiratory illnesses.
Worst hit are set to be cyclists and endurance runners such as British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe, who suffers from asthma - likely to be made worse by the conditions.
Radcliffe, who is recovering from a stress fracture to her left femur, is flying out to join British team-mates at a training camp in Macau on Sunday.
But Haile Gebrselassie, Ethiopia's four-time world champion and double Olympic champion over 10,000m, won't run. "In Beijing, no marathon," he said. "I don't compete in the marathon in these conditions. Imagine in summer, with temperatures around 32-33C plus the humidity. It is better not to take the risk."
Chinese authorities are exceptionally sensitive about Beijing smog stories after the city's pollution index hit 118 on Saturday and 113 on Sunday.
A reading below 50 is considered good and is the organisers' target.
Recent figures show pollution in Beijing is up to five times worse than that in Marylebone Road, London's pollution hot spot. Particulate levels, usually from diesel engines, averaged 50micrograms per cubic metre in Marylebone Road last month. In Beijing-they regularly exceed 250. Games organisers have imposed limits on traffic levels, taking half of Beijing's 3.3million cars off the road, and have closed hundreds of factories in a bid to cut smog.
Dr Anna Hansell, a pollution expert at Imperial College, said: "There is really a triple threat from pollution in Beijing. There is a huge amount of construction work, a lot of cars and a lot of factories and that all adds up.
What we will see is those who suffer from asthma needing their medication more often and a rise is the number of coughs, phlegm, colds and other respiratory problems."
Imperial is sending researchers to the Games to study how athletes perform in polluted conditions. "We hope that by the London Games, we will know a lot more," Dr Hansell said.
Dr David Marlin, an adviser to the British equestrian team, has spent two years monitoring air quality and its effects on athletes and animals in Beijing and Hong Kong, which will host Olympic equestrian events.
"I think we will see a performance hit of around 15 to 20 per cent on athletes and animals alike," he said. "We will see most problems with endurance events. For instance, we might see fast 100m sprints as the effects are less but I'd be amazed if we saw a new marathon world record."
However, British marathon hopeful Mara Yamauchi said: "We all know pollution in Beijing is an issue ... it's just something we all have to accept."
How China plans to curb pollution
Beijing has imposed tough rules to curb pollution and is believed to have spent around £1. billion to try and beat the problem.
Hundreds of factories in northern China, particularly concrete and chemical processing firms, are already on an enforced two-month holiday in an attempt to improve air quality.
Most lorries are now banned in the city while cars with odd-numbered licence plates can drive only on odd-numbered dates, and even plates on even dates.
Further restrictions are planned if air quality continues to fail Beijing's "safe standards" after next Friday's opening ceremony. A list has been drawn up of ... chemical, construction, and coal-fired factories in Beijing, the neighbouring city of Tianjin and the surrounding province of Hebei, which will be temporarily shut down.
Under new rules, no car would be able to drive on a date that shared the same last number as its licence plate. Rules on odd and even plates will be extended to Tianjin and four towns in neighboring Hebei province, the state news agency Xinhua reports.
The measures are "to effectively implement Olympics environmental pledges", said the statement, which didn't define "extreme" pollution.
Reader views (1)
They're so desperate to put a good face on these games no matter at what cost....
- John Wood, Charlottetown,PEI CANADA, 06/08/2008 04:39
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