The hardest obstacle for Olympic athletes to overcome this summer may not be other competitors, but the pollution-filled air in Beijing. In fact, most athletes are finding alternate training locations such as Japan and plan to arrive in Beijing as close to their event as possible.

"There really isn't anything specific you can do to acclimate to substandard air quality," said Darryl Seibel of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "From a training point of view, there's nothing we've found that an athlete can do without risking their health and well-being."

The U.S. teams expect Beijing's air to reach a "safe and suitable standard for elite competition," Seibel said in a telephone interview from Colorado Springs, Colorado, home of the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

Some athletes see the pollution as a potential hindrance to their performance, and others acclimatized to severe pollution believe it may offer a competitive edge.

Italy's Stefano Baldini, the 2004 Olympic marathon gold medalist, said Beijing's smog would be a problem.

"Having to breathe in pollution while running is bound to affect performances," Baldini told Reuters in a telephone interview in January. "But I hope the situation will improve between now and August."

A Chile team member offered a different perspective: 

"It will benefit us, because if we are talking about toxic surroundings ... we are training in the right place," said Jorge Nunez, technical manager of the Chile Olympic Committee. Chile's capital Santiago, where Olympic athletes are training, is one of Latin America's most polluted cities. "We won't be in a situation that different (from where we live) so we don't require special preparation," Nunez said.

The athletes accustomed to breathing relatively, clean healthy air are playing some pretty unpredictable odds. On one hand, it may make sense to keep the body as clear of toxins for as long as possible to maintain strenth, however the sudden change from clean to polluted air without time to adjust could prove equally detrimental. In the meantime, Beijing is trying to minimize the effects of pollution by enforcing cautionary measures such as keeping over a million cars of the road during the Games and cutting industrial pollution for the two months prior to the opening ceremony.

» Reuters Environment