EDITORIAL
The Summer Olympics staged in Barcelona in 1992 and Sydney in 2000 came as close to perfection as any similar event in recent times. Atlanta in 1996 suffered from excessive commercialism while Athens in 2004 was plagued by logistical hurdles, with some venues only completed at the last minute. But everything finally came together and Greece turned out to be a fount of gold medals and glorious moments for our athletes.
Now, with just 27 days to go before the Olympic cauldron is lit in Beijing, our athletes have their flights booked and most of the facilities in the Chinese capital are ready. Yet one major problem deprives organisers of sleep. The Games are under a cloud, specifically a pall of smog blanketing Beijing and other major cities at levels of two or three times the maximum permitted by the World Health Organisation. This must be dispersed completely, or at least reduced to tolerable levels.
None of this is being denied, shrugged off or taken lightly. Both China and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) know that this event has been billed "the Green Games" and are sensitive to any suggestion they might take on a different hue. But the IOC privately admits that long-distance endurance events, especially those involving running and cycling, are unlikely to be setting any records. It does not take an expert in sports medicine to know that an endurance athlete gulps up to 150 litres of air a minute, which is at least 10 times more than a deskbound office worker. Clearly that air must be clean and rich in oxygen, which is not yet the case in Beijing.
Last week a BBC environmental investigator used a portable detector to check the Chinese capital's air for small particulate matter (PM10). Repeated tests showed that Beijing's air failed to meet the WHO's minimum air quality standards for PM10 on six days out of seven. This explains why more than 20 countries have somewhat nervously set up training camps in Japan, instead of China, and why the world's top marathon runner from Ethiopia, who is prone to asthma, will not be taking part. Pollution also comes in other forms. In Qingdao - site of the sailing competition 550km southeast of Beijing - a pollution-triggered algae bloom has left parts of the harbour covered in a foul smelling slimy green sludge and specialists are battling the clock to get rid of it.
All this would be causing alarm among our athletes and spectators were it not for China's expressed willingness and determination to take any measure necessary to clean up the air at its 31 Olympic venues. This zeal was demonstrated on July 1, when 300,000 highly polluting vehicles were banned from the capital and non-essential work halted at construction sites and factories. From July 20, more than one million cars - or about a third of those in Beijing - will be ordered off the roads. All coal-fired power plants must slash emissions and factories in surrounding provinces must shut down. Building sites are being reined in, natural gas conversions stepped up, trees planted, some petrol stations closed to reduce fumes. There is much that we can, and should, learn from the sheer variety of measures being implemented because we can adapt them to help lessen our own air pollution.
World leaders, initially hesitant because they were unwilling to appear to be condoning human rights violations, are now confirming long-pending invitations. Airlines are increasing capacity and there is a sense of excitement that the Games of the XXIX Olympiad - from the futuristic Bird's Nest stadium to the ingenious Water Cube - will soon become a reality.
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