- 19 Jun 08, 02:55 PM
"Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in," said Michael Corleone in The Godfather: Part III (and Silvio in The Sopranos), and I'm starting to feel the same way.
It is not the sticky problem of putting my family business on a more legitimate footing that is giving me aggro, it is Beijing's pollution. It's fast becoming the type of media storm that is visible from space.
I suppose I could ignore it but that's a bit tricky when your brief is Olympic sports news and new stories about Beijing's air (lack of) quality appear every other day.
The most recent black cloud to appear on the Olympic horizon came earlier this week when Athletics Australia announced that most of its competitors will not take part in the Games' opening ceremony.
It's standard practice (and plain common sense) for competitors with events in the schedule's first few days to skip the chance to dress up like a tour guide, march into a stadium full of avant-garde dancers and then stand around for hours while the hosts reveal their take on a torch-lighting ceremony of very dubious ancient pedigree.
But most Olympians with the first week off normally decide the curtain-raiser is part of the whole experience, slip on some sensible shoes and line up behind the flag for a bout of serious smiling and waving.
Not the Aussies, though. And I don't think they will be the only team to give it a miss in China.
AA's performance director Max Binnington put it like this: "Anything more than five or six days (in Beijing during the summer) and athletes inevitably end up with some sort of respiratory problem.
"Many sports that don't have to be there early are choosing not to go."
So if the early birds (swimmers, road cyclists, fencers, shooters, judo players et al) aren't going to troop the colour because they need to be in bed, and the late starters aren't going to be in town because they're worried about catching black lung disease, who is going to take part in the opening ceremony?
Team GB's bosses have been less forthcoming and more diplomatic than their Australian counterparts (no, really?) on this subject. The official line is that it is up to each athlete/coach to decide if they should take part but it is clear there is concern about the issue.
I spoke to the British Olympic Association's chief medical officer, Dr Ian McCurdie, about our "pollution plan" a month or so ago and he made it clear that much effort, expense and time had been spent on making sure our boys and girls are ready to perform when the serious business starts.
The much-discussed masks are (a small) part of this plan, as is a scheme to test all our Olympians for asthma (which the Australians are also doing) and the establishment of a holding camp in Macau to help competitors acclimatise.
McCurdie played down fears about the impact of Beijing's air quality on the Games but admitted we are unlikely to see many records in the endurance events. He also said for many competitors, the opening ceremony is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they should probably put off for another lifetime.
Despite finding most opening/closing ceremonies hilariously lame and about as much fun as Greco-Roman wrestling, I think this is a bit of a shame. I know if I was selected to represent my country at the Olympics (can we get pub quizzes into the Games?) I would want to tick every box.
I'd get the five rings tattoo and a silly haircut, I'd arrive at the holding camp as early as possible, I'd swap official kit with athletes from exotic countries, I'd catch some of the beach volleyball and I would proudly take part in the opening and closing ceremonies.
But then I've never been to Beijing in August and I've not spent half my life preparing for a single sports event.
All the same, it doesn't seem quite right that there are bound to be more acrobats than Olympians in Beijing's National Stadium come 8:08:08 on 8/8/08 (the Chinese have a thing about the number eight).
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
i have been employing Beijing people for over 8 yrs, i pay them double what any other business would pay them and they give me good product and also share in my profit, but because of the olympics the chinese government, in may 08, made a law that prohibited any commercial traffic moving within the beijing city limits that is does not use "green labelled" vehicles. this means any vehicle that does not meet the emmissions control is not alloed to travel within beijing city limits from 01/07/08 until 20/09/08. trying to get a "green label2 commercial vehicle is like trying to find chickens teeth !. of all the commercial vehicles only 5% are "green labelled". so no exporter can send his goods from his factory unless he has the required vehicle and also no imported goods can be delivered to the factories. no containers can move because there are no "green label2 vehicles large enough to carry containers. o.k. i will lose money for 2.5 months, i can buy goods from china, but what about my workers if they cannot produce goods then they cannot earn money. the smog in beijing is a problem, but the chinese government have had the games for 8 years and have done nothing about fasing in more "green labelled2 vehicles. so again the people suufer. barrysevostiyanova
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
You have heinously misquoted michael corleone here! However, to the topic. I do feel it is a little sad knowing that despite trying their hardest to simulate the humidity and natural climate conditions of beijing in training that unless they also train in a sealed room with a humvee with its engine running constantly, the British track and field athletes are going to find it even more tough
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Some people in the world seem not to realise that the Beijing Olympics means as much, if not far more, to the people of China than it does to the government. After hundreds of years of being subjected to foreign invaders, and decades of internal ideological troubles, China, for the first time in its history, is stable, outward-looking and increasingly prosperous. The coming Olympics is a chance for China to showcase to the world how far it has progressed in the relatively short period of time since its market reforms, and for the Chinese people to demonstrate their enormous hospitality to the many visitors that sure to visit Beijing. How dare people argue that the Olympics should not be given to a country containing 1/4 of all humanity.
To say that the Games should not be given to China at the same time as, for example, making no mention of London's right to host the Games in 2012 (given Britain's extraordinary foreign adventures of late) is hypocrisy of the highest order.
It is quite right that Beijing was awarded the Olympics after its unsuccessful bid for the 2000 Games - we know now of course that it was Australian sweeteners that swayed the votes of a couple of IOC delegates.
In terms of the topic in question, I have no doubt that come the Games, the policies that will be implemented, including the shutting down of nearby factories and the banning of cars, will result in pollution levels that meet IOC standards.
So my message to everyone around the world is this: if you wish to come to the Games this summer, you will be welcomed whole-heartedly by the Chinese people. However, if what you seek is to wreck the Olympics and continue to humiliate the Chinese people with actions and words, you will create resentment to a level that may become irreparable.
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I do believe the pollution problem is much more severe in London than in Beijing. Every time in London, even I stay in the tube for most of my time, the drainage from my nose becomes black as soon as you can imagine. So my suggestion to BBC is please do care about the pollution problem in London first before you show your benevolence to the other people outside of the UK. You only have four more years to prepare the Olympics.
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bobbyboulders....is that a mafia name?
Apologies for the mistake. It should, of course, be: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."
Hardly heinous, though, is it?
beijing_2008, wise and passionate stuff. I look forward to seeing Beijing for myself and meeting lots of Chinese people this August. And I think you're right, the Games will be a great success...especially if we get a bit of luck with the weather and air quality is at its best.
tgfmwjhf, you're having a laugh, aren't you? Don't get me wrong, the air quality could be better here too, but to suggest London's pollution is worse than Beijing's is just daft. And that's not my opinion, it's the view of the World Health Organisation, the UN's environmental panel, the World Bank, the European Space Agency and environmental experts around the world.
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So our pathways meet again?! Some 15 years post uni...
Liked the article...am also very interested in the Olympics this particular year... my destiny has decreed it!! Would love to chat to you... assuming you now have access to my email, contact me when you have a mo and we'll have a natter.
Good to see you're doing so well.
Am I allowed to post this?!!
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The amount of absentees is what the opening shenanigans will be all about :-)
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