Beijing critics are mistaking fog for smog, insists Olympic president Rogge
Olympic chief Jacques Rogge last night attempted to calm fears over Beijing’s air quality by insisting that athletes’ health would not be at risk at the Games.
On the eve of the opening ceremony, Rogge praised China’s efforts to reduce pollution and said that competitors taking part in events lasting less than an hour would be in “absolutely no danger”. But Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, admitted that events lasting more than 60 minutes could be postponed or moved if pollution was high.
“Objectively, we can say that the Chinese authorities have done everything feasible and humanly possible to solve the situation. What they have done is extraordinary,” said Rogge.
“The statistics are very clear. Pollution levels are coming down. It is not yet perfect. It is safe for athletes.”
Factories have been shut down, cars taken off the roads and building work halted in an attempt to clear Beijing’s notorious smog. But Rogge insisted smog was sometimes confused with fog.
“The fog you see is based on humidity and heat,” he added. “It does not mean to say that this fog is the same as pollution. It can be pollution, but the fog doesn’t mean necessarily that it is pollution.”