Adam’s journal
Ah, Beijing. The Great Wall. The pomp of the opening ceremony. The graceful acrobatics of Nastia Liukin. The dominance of Michael Phelps. The chiseled-from-stone physiques of, well, pretty much every athlete there.
Then, of course, there’s the pollution.
Since the moment Beijing was announced as the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the city’s notoriously poor air quality has loomed like a black, sooty cloud over the games. And with good reason: Air pollution levels in China’s capital are about five times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended safety level. A mix of environmental baddies—ozone, nitrogen dioxide and fine particles — is common, and sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide often make matters worse.
Marathon world-record-holder Haile Gebrselassie opted out of running the 26.2-mile race due to concerns about the pollution. And just about every endurance athlete who showed up to compete in Beijing’s outdoor climes expected air quality to pose a challenge at least as stiff as any human competitor.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the games. At least in the first 10 days of competition, the great pollution scare has proven to be a nonevent. Weather patterns have been good. Rains have helped clear the air. And the winds from the south that can carry noxious pollutants into the city have been nonexistent.
As a result, the air quality in Beijing has been about what you’d find in a major city like New York or London.
As the Olympics continue through this week, athletes — particularly those competing in outdoor endurance events like the triathlon and marathon — will hope that the weather patterns hold. Yet, if they don’t, and Beijing’s infamous smog returns, what kind of impact on performance can we expect to see?
