Olympic official claims that smog won't be an issue, then says it kinda will be

by Ellen Slattery
Mar 17th 2008 @ 4:00PM

Filed under: Health, News, Travel and Vacation

So, after a bunch of official environmental types determined that Beijing's air was incredibly unhealthy and recommended that the Olympic athletes wear face masks to fight the smog, another person comes along and tries to reassure us that the atmosphere is fine.

Who is that other person, you ask? Why, the International Olympic Committee's top medical official, Arne Ljungqvist, of course. "I believe the conditions will be good for athletes although they will not necessarily be ideal," Ljungqvist said.

Wait: but then he backtracks, saying that athletes will technically be able to breathe, but that "we may not see world records in unfavorable conditions" and that they people with asthma will especially see the effects of the pollution. Um...isn't that the whole point of the Olympics? To set records and perform at your peak? So, if the athletes can't do that, wouldn't that signify that the air quality was not okay?

Oh - and, right, one more thing: if pollution is too bad, Ljungqvist said, some events that depend on high respiratory function, such as mountain and road cycling, walking, running and triathlon events.

Okay. So Ljungqvist basically said that things were fine, then admitted that they weren't perfect, and then said they could actually be a real problem. Make up your mind, Olympic Committee: which is it?

[via] Environmental News Network.