The Great Pall Of China
Sydney Morning Herald
Friday August 8, 2008
TO SOME it is smog. To others, thick haze. Qiao Lin, of the China Meteorological Administration, says it is a combination of summer heat and humidity producing cloudy, overcast conditions.
But whatever one calls the eerie, post-apocalyptic gloom that has descended on Beijing, robbing pedestrians of their shadows, reducing visibility at sporting venues to less than 100 metres and putting a grey pall over the Great Wall, one thing is certain: Australia's Olympic team is just going to have to grin and breathe it.The deputy chef de mission, Peter Montgomery, yesterday dismissed worries about air quality, insisting that not one of the 433 athletes was contemplating withdrawing. "I haven't heard any comment from an athlete saying they weren't going on with the job," he said. "They've trained, in many cases, for 10 years to get into this Olympic team, to fulfil their dream ... They're here now to finish the job."Earlier this week the chairman of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission, Arne Ljungqvist, said Beijing's air quality, which is assessed hourly, met World Health Organisation standards."At these levels there are no causes for alarm," Mr Montgomery said."I'm sure WHO is not compromised in any way."Yesterday, temperatures again reached the low 30s, and air quality deteriorated. The official index, which measures particulate matter in the atmosphere, rose to 96 after falling to 85 on Wednesday. That is officially categorised as "moderate", although other figures circulating in "Greyjing" suggested that pollution was 60 times worse than on a normal day in an Australian city. Air quality concerns at the Olympics were not new, Mr Montgomery said. There were scares about smog levels in Los Angeles before the 1984 Games, and worries about the reported hole in the ozone layer over Sydney. "People said that anyone who turned up in Sydney would get a melanoma within weeks."Since the 2008 Games were awarded to Beijing, Australian officials, led by the team doctor, Peter Baquie, have worked closely with athletes on heat and humidity, and pollution issues.They have provided training chambers that replicate the conditions, devised "cool" recovery stations, provided slushie machines and drawn up special programs for athletes with respiratory problems. Meanwhile, the Beijing organisers, who have promised to reschedule events if air quality deteriorates, have battled to beat pollution during their Olympic "coming-out party", primarily by slashing traffic and closing industrial plants.The table tennis player David Zalcberg, who recently qualified as a doctor, said air quality had long been a problem. He recalled coming to Beijing for training in 1999. "I don't know exactly what's in it [the air], but I honestly don't think the haze is worse now than then."A mystery "smog" still hovers over the swimming pool. Mr Qiao said today's weather should look better, with the temperature range down to between 25 and 30 degrees, with the chance of an afternoon shower. The world will see. Or not, as the case may be.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald