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The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing began on Friday. I love the Olympics, always have, and you can bet I'll be watching and cheering on our American team. But, as a respiratory therapist, I'll be watching and listening especially to see how the athletes with asthma do with the unique challenges prese...
If quality of life for all of our athletes is a compelling factor in the Olympic games, as it should be, why is there not a overall Olympic Guideline regarding Air Quality for the countries requesting to host the Olympic Games? Would this not be a best foot foward in the interest of the overall health of all our Olympic athletes? It seems that each host country is now dealing with terrorits threats for the overall safety of the games, why not the overall health of our participants as well. The athletes health should also be a determining factor in awarding a country with the great priviledge of hosting the Olympic Games. I can not understand why the Olympic Committee would even consider a country where the air is as polluted as China in the first place. Even if they have taken painstaking efforts to clean up the air quality in the last decade, truly even now, its air quality is not acceptable. Considering that there were so many other countries bidding for the Olympic Games without pollution problems. Possibly China could have been put off as a future Olympic host once their country cleaned up their air quality for the benefit of the Olympians participating at the games. Of course, this is only one opinion of a great fan of the only World Event where all participants are treated equally, no matter what country they represent. All participating countries become as one during the short time we watch and cheer on all of our Olympians.
I couldn't agree with you more! I just hope that the athletes are able to breathe well at this Olympics so they can have every benefit from this experience of a lifetime.
From what I hear, the smokers in China smoke everywhere...in elevators, restrooms...everywhere. The indoor air quality as well as outdoors, has got to be dangerous. After the Olympics maybe China will catch on and work to clean up all the air as another demonstration of its efforts to provide a better life for its people and end isolation.
Jane M. Martin