Poor atmosphere for Olympics

The Olympic Games are the arena for the world's athletes to give all that is in them for sport and their nations. The 29th Olympiad that is coming up next August in Beijing makes it extremely challenging if not impossible for them to do so.
The reason is the astonishing air pollution that remains the dominating ambience of China's capital, after years striving to reduce it, including more than $16 billion spent in preparation for the 2008 Games. Many observers credit this effort with notable results, but Beijing air is four or five times more contaminated than the level prescribed by the World Health Organization, and 40 times worse than Los Angeles, America's most polluted city.
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, is confident that by the opening ceremonies, Beijing's air quality will be suitable for the competition.
However, he hedges his bet, saying some endurance events might have to be rescheduled. Athletes in the marathon and triathlon as well as cyclists, take in about 10 times more air with every breath, making them particularly susceptible to Beijing's fouled air.
Face masks, which are sure to forestall peak performances, are nevertheless being tried out.
Many participating nations don't share Rogge's optimism. Contrary to custom, they are training their contingents not in the host country, but in Japan or South Korea, or in Chinese cities distant from Beijing.
One may well ask why such a venue was selected in the first place when the choice was made in 2001. The answer is that it was as a gesture to a nation growing in stature and influence, with the pious hope that it would encourage China to improve its dismal human rights record. Indeed, the Chinese promised to do so and also committed themselves to cleaning up Beijing's air.
China has failed on both counts, although it did make enormous efforts to relocate polluting industrial plants, planted 300 million trees, rerouted an ever increasing volume of automobile traffic and expanded subway lines and constructed a light railway system.
As for human rights, Communist Chinese authorities are still locking up dissidents at home. Internationally, their continued reluctance to use their large trade ties with Sudan to mitigate the atrocities in Darfur last week resulted in Steven Spielberg, the American filmmaker, withdrawing from his advisory role for the Games.
The Chinese point to some minor steps they have taken with Sudan and stress that politics should not afflict the games. Indeed, the Olympic Charter commands "no kind of demonstration of political, religious or racial propaganda" by participants is permitted.
But Tibet is still an issue with legs and among the anticipated 550,000 visitors from abroad there are sure to be some determined to demonstrate. Some 20,000 foreign journalists will be present to report on how the authorities cope with any demonstrations.
Other problems bedevil the Beijing Games, but these are generally easier to deal with, though at some expense.
China does not have a good reputation when it comes to the quality of its food supply despite the global popularity enjoyed by its cuisine. Reports have revealed candy laced with carcinogens, fish contaminated by insecticides, unreliable grains and -- with particular relevance to athletes -- meat and fowl pumped up with steroids.

Olympic athletes are responsible for what they ingest, and if steroids show up in tests, they would suffer consequences.
The U.S., for one, has set up a secure food supply chain, and will ship adequate supplies of beef, chicken and pork as well as grains to feed its athletes and officials. Seafood and fruit are coming in from other countries.
The date set for the opening of the Olympics is the eighth day of the eighth month of the year 2008. In the Chinese view, all those eights will bring good luck. The Games certainly will require an unusually heavy dose of it.

source: timesunion.com