(BEIJING, March 18) -- The IOC is "confident that measures already put in place, plus those planned by Beijing organisers and city authorities, will continue to improve the city's air quality leading up to -- and during -- the Games," Arne Ljungqvist, the chairman of the IOC's Medical Commission, said.
The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Medical Commission released on Monday the findings from its most recent appraisal of the air quality in Beijing.
Based on air quality data from August 8 to 29, 2007, the IOC's Medical Commission satisfactorily found that the air quality will be suitable for the health of most athletes competing in the 2008 Olympic Games. The commission spent several weeks analyzing readings on temperature, wind, humidity and the pollutants SO2, NO2, CO, Ozone, and PM10 provided by the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau for the time period indicated.
Two other facts further support the finding. First, team physicians for athletes who competed in the August 2007 "Good Luck Beijing" sport events did not report any air quality-related health issues to BOCOG or the IOC. Second, no health issues related to air quality were reported at the IAAF Junior World Championships, which were held in Beijing in August 2006.
