Athletes Ask USOC Lead Physiologist If Running Behind Buses Good Idea To Train For Beijing - NYT

[hatrack]

COLORADO SPRINGS — As the lead exercise physiologist for the United States Olympic Committee, Randy Wilber has been fielding one bizarre question after another from American athletes training for the Beijing Games.

Should I run behind a bus and breathe in the exhaust? Should I train on the highway during rush hour? Is there any way to acclimate myself to pollution? Mr. Wilber answers those questions with a steadfast, “No.” “We have to be extremely careful and steer them in the right direction because the mind-set of the elite athlete is to do anything it takes to get that advantage,” he said. “If they thought locking themselves in the garage with the car running would help them win a gold medal, I’m sure they would do it. Our job, obviously, is to prevent that.”

Mr. Wilber, a 53-year-old scientist based here at the United States Olympic Training Center, has spent most of the past two years vying with his counterparts from other nations to devise smarter, safer ways for athletes to face Beijing’s noxious air.

To protect the athletes, Mr. Wilber is encouraging them to train elsewhere and arrive in Beijing at the last possible moment. He is also testing possible Olympians to see if they qualify for an International Olympic Committee exemption to use an asthma inhaler. And, in what may be a controversial recommendation, Mr. Wilber is urging all the athletes to wear specially designed masks over their noses and mouths from the minute they step foot in Beijing until they begin competing/ His multipronged strategy could give the United States team an advantage over teams from less-prepared countries. But the plan has a downside: it runs the risk of offending the host country, creating political tension.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/24/sports/othersports/24mask.html

[phantom power]

1. Yes, well, we wouldn't want to offend them.

:eyes:

[angstlessk]

2. I think the damn Olympic commitee who CHOSE Beijing should have to jog in a closed garage

with a car running till they drop!

[DCKit]

3. A lot of athletes are going to make the very hard choice between...

Olympic glory and their health.

China has already experimented with banning traffic in Beijing and found the majority of pollution comes from outside the city. They'd have to shut down dozens of coal-fired power plants to clean the air and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they do so.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. I was just abou to say the same thing.

Re-route the electric grid to give the city all the power it needs, while letting the boonies go dark for the duration, just to be sure the air is relatively clear for one week.

[hatrack]

5. Oh, and don't allow any foreign reporters or TV crews beyond the Beijing city limits . . .

Not that said reporters or TV crews would want to, ya know, focus on anything other than running fast and throwing stuff long distances.

[Javaman]

6. I, for one, am protesting the olympics...

not that I'm a qualifying athlete or anything, but I refuse to watch them for 2 reasons.

china has a truly horrible human rights record but mostly because of their outrageous pollution and it's long term effects on the environment.

I'm an olympics junkie, but sadly, I can't in all good conscious watch it.

[NNadir]

7. Why not just run with a cigarette in their mouthes?

[losthills]

8. Organizing a boycott

might be a better idea.....

[patch1234]

9. walking in the opening parade, in a space suit

would be offensive?