The air quality in Beijing for the upcoming Olympics seems to be quite a hot topic. The picture at right is of the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing on a smoggy day vs a clear day. The question on everyone's mind seems to be: "How will that athletes prepare for the pollution????"The answer is....there is no way to adapt to polluted air, just as there is no way to adapt to cigarette smoke. The best thing to do is to avoid it as much as possible.
However, since that doesn't seem to be an acceptable answer, there have been a variety of strategies provided for combating the pollution - everything from prescription inhalers to special masks.
I object to the idea of prescription inhalers - if one person is allowed to use one then everyone should be allowed to use one. Or, better yet, no one
should be allowed to use them. Everyone is competing in the same conditions, and the poor air quality is just an unfortunate part of it.As far as masks go, I have a hard time believing that competing with a mask tied around your head is performance enhancing in any way. The US Track Cyclists are giving it a shot though.
It's a real shame that China has failed to live up to their promise of improved air quality, and while it will likely be a detriment to performance, the pollution is not something that is going to change at this point. So, its best to focus on the aspects that we do have control over and keep the fingers crossed for good conditions.
