Comments on: Beijing Should Lose the Olympics

By: Yang

Yang — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 02:49:44 +0000

i still remember my first long-term exposure to beijing air when i was laid up for 2 weeks because my windpipes hurt so bad. i was in beijing last summer too, and my lungs were used to the air by then, but the heat and humidity kept me cooped up in my house afraid to venture outdoors. the conditions are deplorable and i’d hate to be an athlete running around in the beijing summer. but maybe that’s their plan, if the other countries’ athletes are all laid up then the chinese will take all the gold oh, and moving the olympics to tokyo would be hilarious! talk about hitting a nerve…

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:03:22 +0000

Josh, I’ve spent more than a few summers in Beijing, and last summer was exceptionally bad. For whatever reason, we had two months straight of still, humid air trapping all the pollution in the city. In previous summers I’ve spent in Beijing, such weather has lasted a week at the most, not two months straight without a break. You can not judge Beijing’s summer weather on one summer alone. So, no, that photo was not “very typical”. Typical is a wide variety of weather, from stunning blue skies (yes, even in summer time) to the current fog/smog. And I write fog/smog, because there is real fog trapping the smog in the city.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:01:32 +0000

In lack of a better alternative, I voted “Go ahead – there is no problems”.

I missed the option saying: “Go ahead – let em try to succeed or fry in their own fat”.

Personally I am concerned about the whole deal. Not quite sure whether the Chinese are ready or capable of lifting this job in neither the practical nor the politics areas. If the manage to make it fly, it is a positive thing, but on the other hand, if they crash and burn, maybe it will be a lesson to both China and the Olympic committee.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 02:53:46 +0000

Chris,

On point number 3, sadly that picture is very typical. During July and August I was trying to document the impact of the Chinese policy to push cars off the road and almost every day for two months looked like that. This weekend I’ll put together a post that documents it clearly.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:06:52 +0000

Ben,

The only problem with that is they’ve already announced that they will NOT close factories during the Olympics, and the car removal effort completely failed in August.

Maybe that sweet mid-western air has given you a rosier outlook on life in China

By: Ben Ross

Ben Ross — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:24:57 +0000

It might be a little unfair to judge Beijing’s air quality based on the current conditions. I say this because the first time I was in Beijing was during Spring Festival, when factories were closed. The skies were all clear and blue. If Beijing does close factories during and before the Olympics, and they do impose the suggested car ban, there is reason to believe pollution will drop drastically. This of course doesn’t address the real problem of pollution in a global environmental responsibility sense, but it would prevent Olympic athletes from having to deal with the horrible conditions.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:58:21 +0000

Too late to move the whole shebang, but –

IOC should have put in provisions in the agreement with Beijing to ensure that the country met certain environmental benchmarks leading up to the Olympics – thus offering more time and leverage to move the games if needed.

I think it is still reasonable to consider moving part of the shebang to another country. In particular, it may be appropriate to move long distance endurance events such as the marathon as these athletes would be most affected by the air pollution.

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:14:50 +0000

Nuh, forget it.

1: It’s too late. Really. What other city could possibly be anywhere near close to ready less than a year out? A switch ain’t happening.

2: It’s not about sports, anyway, so who cares? The Olympics are the world’s biggest marketing fest. Sport is merely the medium. What better way to bring the maximum number of eyeballs to your Kodak, Coca-Cola and Tsingtao ads than the spectacle of Cathy Freeman [literally] choking on the women’s 100m? Seriously, that is the state this world has been reduced to.

3: Your photo is not typical. “Weather” like that happens often, but it is due as much to natural phenomena (still, humid air) as artificial. Doesn’t change the fact that the sun is not often enough that photographable to make that photo typical. Too often for comfort, but still, not typical.

That’s why I voted “no problem”: Not because I believe there will be no problems, but because there is no valid argument for shifting the Olympics.

Now, if you wanted to discuss abandoning the whole ridiculous exercise in wrapping absurd and poisonous consumerism up in the clothes of healthy sport, I’d leap on your bandwagon without a second thought…

…I am the Grinch. I stole Christmas.

By: The Humanaught

The Humanaught — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:21:41 +0000

With China wetting its gitch in excitement over the great and wonderful opportunity they have for showing the world how modern and wonderful the country is, it’s almost amusing (in the way a slow-motion car crash is) to watch this all unfold.

I was in Greece just prior to the last games, and aside from the hurried construction on pretty much everything around town, you wouldn’t even have known the Olympics were coming. In China, I wasn’t here a full day before I was bombarded with Olympic propaganda – and it’s only increased since.

I think what China’s done to the IOC and the Games in general is pretty much on par with what they’ve done to the quality of most other products they’ve released on the world.

By: J..

J.. — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:20:34 +0000

A move now would mean cancellation of the entire Olympics. No way that will happen. But it is going to be interesting watching these athletes try to perform at a high level in this air!