Fearing smog, Aussie runners to skip opening ceremonies
Guang Niu/Getty Images Australia’s track and field athletes won’t be marching in the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics due to fears that prolonged exposure to Beijing’s smog could negatively affect their performance. Instead, the athletes will fly up from their training camp in Hong Kong a few days before their events are scheduled. Beijing ...
Guang Niu/Getty Images
Australia’s track and field athletes won’t be marching in the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics due to fears that prolonged exposure to Beijing’s smog could negatively affect their performance. Instead, the athletes will fly up from their training camp in Hong Kong a few days before their events are scheduled. Beijing has vowed to bring down pollution levels before the games begin, but the performance manager of Athletics Australia believes the smog poses a serious health risk for Australian athletes:
We have had athletes come back from a recent test event and one athlete has got 10 days off training because of a respiratory problem,” he told ABC radio. “We don’t want our athletes to be undertaking that sort of risk.”
If skipping the ceremonies is perceived as giving the Australians even the slightest competitive advantage, it’s hard to imagine that other countries won’t follow suit.
Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating
More from Foreign Policy

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose
Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy
The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now
In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet
As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.