Beijing's air quality poses no risk to athletes' health, Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has told reporters.

One day before the opening ceremony of the Games, Mr Rogge said proper checks were in place to protect competitors.

He also warned that poor visibility could German minister urges China to enure human rights ...
FIFA, IOC Try to Force Clubs to Release Players For Olympics ... be caused by high humidity as well as pollution.

But a BBC reading on Thursday suggested Beijing air quality was far below World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.

The BBC reading put levels of particulate matter (PM10) at 191 micrograms per cubic metre.

This far exceeds the WHO target of 50 micrograms/cubic metre, and also exceeds the WHO target for developing countries of 150 micrograms/cubic metre.

'No danger'

"Of course we prefer clear skies, but the most important thing is that the health of the athletes is protected," Mr Rogge said in the news conference.

He said there was "absolutely no danger" to the health of athletes taking part in events that last less than one hour.

But he said if the pollution was bad, events which lasted more than one hour could be shifted or postponed.

Detailed 72-hour forecasting services provided to Olympic authorities would allow events to be moved according to climatic conditions, he added.

Mr Rogge urged reporters to distinguish between fog and pollution - a point, correspondents say, often made by Chinese authorities.

"The fog, you see, is based on the basis of humidity and heat. It does not mean that this fog is the same as pollution," he said.

And Mr Rogge praised China's efforts to clean up the air around Beijing - including taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road and introducing other traffic restrictions, changing factory fuels, and moving very polluting factories far away from the capital.

These efforts would "continue and have a lasting influence on the climate of Beijing", Mr Rogge promised.

(BBC)

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