Times Online
Haile Gebrselassie |
The marathon world record-holder said yesterday that he was unlikely to compete at the Beijing Olympics because China’s air pollution would damage his health. The Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, 34, is a favourite for a gold medal this summer but is likely to focus instead on the 10,000 metres because he suffers from asthma. “The pollution in China is a threat to my health and it would be difficult for me to run 42km in my current condition,” he said. “But I am not pulling out of the Olympics altogether.” Gebrselassie’s withdrawal would heighten concerns that Beijing’s notorious smog will not be cleared in time for the Games in August, when the weather in the city is at its most hot and humid.
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A quarter of Britain’s top athletes suffer from exercise-induced asthma and some might wear face masks during training and competition. They include Paula Radcliffe, the marathon runner who succumbed to the heat before the finishing line in Athens four years ago. The mother of one has enlisted pollution experts in her campaign for her first Olympic medal. The International Olympic Committee has said that it will postpone or cancel endurance events if conditions pose a danger to athletes’ health.
The Chinese government has assured athletes they will be safer now that they have exterminated all the cats in the city.
I have stated before and I will say it again, the air here is the worst in the world. Beijing has become the #1 most polluted city. An Olympic Record!
Today, the smog was so bad that the sun was orange and the brightness was nearly twilight, at 2:00 in the afternoon.
I don’t believe for a second that shutting down all the factories and powerplants near Beijing is going to make enough of a difference.
Gas masks should be mandatory. After all, it is a totalitarian state!
#2–Ah Yea==it can get worse. I recall going thru San Bernadino a few years ago and the sun actually set at 300PM in the thickening rush hour smog.
Besides, I thought a lot of Bejing Air Pollution was dust–mostly a winter phenomenon? Anyway==surprising to read how many “olympic atheletes” have respiratory issues. Seems counter intuitive.
Kruchev was right when he said communism would hanb the West with rope we would sell them========he only got the wrong country that was going to do it.
You’re right that LA was real bad. I grew up in LA (Canoga Park) and my folks live in Riverside, and amazingly the worst day in LA/Riverside is on par with the best day in Beijing!
I also hear that it has a lot to do with the dust, and I’m sure that the dust has something to do with it, but the pollution is so bad that you can smell it!
The air smells. Like taking a wiff of your car exhaust. It also stings the eyes. It takes some time to get used to.
This is just not the way to live. I’m not a Greenpeace kinda guy, but this place has convinced me that the environmentalist have a very good point.
Good reedence I say. Hee was just geeting in my way. Ariba! Ariba! Ondelay! Ondelay!
Nothing to worry about – it is only dust and the athletes are just a bunch of crybabies!
Here is a description of the “dust”, also referred to as soot:
One of China’s lesser-known exports is a dangerous brew of soot, toxic chemicals and climate-changing gases from the smokestacks of coal-burning power plants.
Last year, a dense cloud of pollutants over Northern China sailed to nearby Seoul, sweeping along dust and desert sand before wafting across the Pacific. An American satellite spotted the cloud as it crossed the West Coast.
Researchers in California, Oregon and Washington noticed specks of sulfur compounds, carbon and other byproducts of coal combustion coating the silvery surfaces of their mountaintop detectors. These microscopic particles can work their way deep into the lungs, contributing to respiratory damage, heart disease and cancer.
Dust, it does a body good!
Good for him and congratulate him for sending an important message to China.
On the surface China looks interesting in terms of culture, ordinary citizens and magnificent history. Aside from that, it is not so great.
Always wanted to visit the Great Wall, but not so much anymore.
So, nobody thinks hes a possible drug cheat who realizes hes gonna get caught, and so has dropped out??
Wouldn’t be the 1st time this sort of thing has happened.
Yellow dust, in China, is a natural phenomena. It has been happening for thousands of years. Here’s a TinyURL link to the wikipedia article.
http://tinyurl.com/ypy2ce
#7 So changing the event he’s in changes the drug testing procedure?
#7. Brilliant! How did no one else think about that? You must be right!
Never mind the fact he is still going there, only focusing on another even, where he still could be caught. How stupid he might be for still taking those chances. But then, again it’s a smaller competition, so judges musn’t be so concerned about drugs.
And, of course, there are certainly no people able of withdrawing from a competition when they feel it might be dangerous… Competitors only feel the danger of being caught with drugs in their bloodstream…
#7. – You idiot. If you don’t know anything about a subject, then don’t comment. Gebrselassie has been a hero and multi world-record holder in long distance running for years. We don’t need morons like you putting his good name down.
This is not the first.
Several of the top riders in the Olympic Equestrian events have already pulled out because they think the Peking air will be dangerous to their horses.