August 07, 2008	Thursday	Sha’aban 4, 1429

BEIJING, Aug 6: Beijing remained shrouded in smog on Wednesday as the hours ticked down to the opening Olympic ceremony, but despite complaints from athletes some organisers insisted air quality was safe.

A murky haze hung over the main Olympic venues in northern Beijing, combining with high humidity and temperatures of 34 degrees Centigrade to create challenging conditions for competitors.

The quality of the Chinese capital’s air has proved a thorny public relations problem, but organisers said on Wednesday that plans to invoke further emergency measures before Friday’s opening ceremony would not be activated.

The authorities have already removed one million of the city’s 3.3 million cars from the roads and shut down more than 100 polluting factories and building sites in an attempt to clear the smog.

They said they were prepared to ban even more vehicles in Beijing and surrounding areas if conditions got worse, but Beijing Olympic organising committee (BOCOG) spokesman Sun Weide backed away from such a move.

“The conditions are not unfavourable at the moment and my understanding is that we are not going to be taking any extra measures,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Despite the reassurances from both Beijing organisers and the International Olympic Committee, some of the 10,000 visiting elite athletes continued to express concern about the conditions.

Spanish tennis player Fernando Gonzalez, who was playing a practice match with Wimbledon and French Open champion Rafael Nadal, said he was hoping for an improvement.

“The conditions are really tough with the pollution and it’s really hot. We don’t have too many days to adapt so I hope to be much better than today,” he said.

Figures from China’s official Environmental Monitoring Centre deemed the air quality to be level two or “fairly good” on Wednesday.

However, environmental groups say China’s air quality standards do not address several key factors, including levels of ozone, which can be particularly harmful.

In previous days, other athletes in the Chinese capital have complained poor air could impair performances, but four US cyclists who caused a storm when they arrived at Beijing airport wearing masks have apologised to organisers.

“It probably wasn’t the most opportune time for these athletes to wear these masks,” said US Olympic Committee chief executive Jim Scherr on Wednesday, adding they had written an apology to BOCOG.

But US officials said they would not ban US athletes from using masks to combat pollution if they felt it was needed because of air quality conditions.

“They have the right to wear masks if they feel it’s in their best interest to do so,” Scherr said. “Hopefully they won’t have to use them and the air quality will be good.”

IOC chief Jacques Rogge warned last year that poor air during the Games could result in the suspension of some events, particularly endurance races such as the marathon.

Ethiopian world record holder Haile Gebrselassie withdrew from the marathon because he feared the pollution could damage his health, although he will run the 10,000m.

Beijing enjoyed unusually blue skies last weekend following last-minute anti-pollution measures introduced on July 20, prompting optimism that organisers had managed to control air quality ahead of the Games.

—Agencies