BEIJING, Aug 5: The levels of pollution in Beijing ahead of the Olympic Games, which begin officially here on Friday, are not as bad as first feared, the chairman of the International Olympic Committee’s medical commission said on Tuesday.

Professor Arne Ljungqvist said the dangers to temporary visitors such as athletes and spectators were not high and added the local representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) had criticised the media for exaggerating the level of pollution.

“We used the WHO standards for the evaluation,” said the 77-year-old Swede. “Those standards are fairly tough to meet, but in many aspects, the Beijing area does so.

“I’m sure, I’m confident the air quality will not prove to pose major problems to the athletes and to the visitors in Beijing,” added Ljungqvist, who is better known for leading the fight against doping.

Ljungqvist explained that whilst marathon runners and road cyclists could suffer if the levels went up, the WHO guidelines were based on different criteria.“The WHO standards were never intended for guiding people who are temporary visitors,” stated Ljungqvist.

“The standards are, and should be used, and are intended by the IOC to be guidelines for the authorities to protect the health of the residents of that area.

“They are for the permanent residents. Those standards have been established to (guard against) long-term risks.”

Ljungqvist revealed the Beijing WHO representative had told him in a meeting of his “extreme dissatisfaction” with the media for overstating the problem of pollution levels.

He added that because media coverage had highlighted the dangers of pollution, this had convinced such stars as Ethiopian greats Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele and British marathon runner Paula Radcliffe that competing here might damage their health.

“We do have a communication problem here,” Ljungqvist said. “Once the misconception has become sort of established in the minds of people, it’s not that easy to get the right message through.”

The Chinese authorities have taken huge steps to reduce the pollution, by shutting down factories and reducing the amount of cars on the roads for the Games while also getting taxi drivers to upgrade the quality of their vehicles.

Their efforts won praise from Ljungvist, renowned for his frank speaking and refusal to bow to outside pressures as was seen in his lengthy fight against drugs cheats, where some of his fellow athletics administrators felt he was over-zealous.

“They (Chinese) have done a lot,” said the Swede. “The matter has come under control.

It will be to the benefit of local residents. “The Beijing Olympics will be a good example of what can be done with the Games in a city.”—AFP