USA Cyclists wear dust masks to Beijing - then apologize... your thoughts?

[Marc]

Story:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080806104906.isgx2yrg&show_article=1

What are your thoughts on their initial decision to wear the masks and then the choice of some, apparently voluntarily to apologize?

 

[Moe Ghoul]

1. If a competitor is seriously asthmatic, that's fine, but no need to wear it in the airport which is climate controlled.
2. My intital reaction was that they were making a political statement about freedom of speech, press, etc.

 

[andyzee]

I say screw formalities and politics, do what you have to to protect yourself. I'm not saying there will be any adverse effects from them breathing Chinese air for a short period, but if there were, the Chinese government would not be paying their medical expenses.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

I spent 2 hours in Mexico City on a layover en route to Ixtapa and got a pretty bad headache from breathing the polluted air from walking around and seeing the city. I'm not sure if those masks do much to filter out fumes. Are they planning on wearing the masks when they compete? That's the only time it matters.

 

[drjeff]

I have NO problems with it. Seriously, they've trained their a$$'s off for years and years to make it to the Olympics, and they're just taking every last legal step to ensure that come race day that their bodies will be in absolute peak physical condition. And lets all be honest, even with the Chinese gov't taking the drastic steps they have to curb the air pollution in and around Beijing these last few weeks, the TV shots I'm seeing from there this last week doesn't exactly make one think of a bluebird sky.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

I have NO problems with it. Seriously, they've trained their a$$'s off for years and years to make it to the Olympics, and they're just taking every last legal step to ensure that come race day that their bodies will be in absolute peak physical condition. And lets all be honest, even with the Chinese gov't taking the drastic steps they have to curb the air pollution in and around Beijing these last few weeks, the TV shots I'm seeing from there this last week doesn't exactly make one think of a bluebird sky.

Agreed, but those masks look like glorified shop masks, not respirators. If they are ineffective to filter out toxic fumes which are the culprits, not lead paint chips falling off ceilings, then it seems kinda silly or political. Put it this way, it'll be fun to see who wins the medals, the maskers or the non-maskers.

 

[Marc]

Agreed, but those masks look like glorified shop masks, not respirators. If they are ineffective to filter out toxic fumes which are the culprits, not lead paint chips falling off ceilings, then it seems kinda silly or political. Put it this way, it'll be fun to see who wins the medals, the maskers or the non-maskers.

Just to clarify, they looked to me to be a low end type respirator, probably an N95 or N101 which is used primarily to filter out down to fine particulates, which can be a component of the smog in the area. They didn't appear to have exhaust valves and you're correct they wouldn't filter other culprits that affect sensitive lungs like low level ozone, sulfur and nitrogen oxides.

 

[andyzee]

.
2. My intital reaction was that they were making a political statement about freedom of speech, press, etc.

Guess what, their right, and regardless of reason no one should be allowed to take it away from them. Some could make the argument that this is a sporting event and not a political event. I'll argue that these athletes are the best and if you want the best at your games, you have no right to censor them.

 

[dmc]

Saw an interview with a guy commenting on mountain biking in China..

Said he rode the course last year and couldn't finish.. And it's supposed an average course..
Claimed it was the air pollution.. Said most of the field dnf'd...

They are training somewhere else and spending as little time in China as possible..

 

[dmc]

Put it this way, it'll be fun to see who wins the medals, the maskers or the non-maskers.

Fun in a poignant kinda way...

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Guess what, their right, and regardless of reason no one should be allowed to take it away from them. Some could make the argument that this is a sporting event and not a political event. I'll argue that these athletes are the best and if you want the best at your games, you have no right to censor them.

I'm not criticizing it, if that was one of the messages they wanted to get across there's no restriction against it. However, it will be interesting to see if the chinese make a stink about it if they wear them in the olympic village or at the competitions. If it's a political statement, they get props for coming up with a clever way to do it within the framework of the contracts they signed.

 

[dmc]

Great and classic place to make a political statement.

The only thing that makes me think it's a statement is the mask is black...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I'm glad they're wearing masks...China needs to get their act together and impose some environmental regulations..

 

[andyzee]

I'm glad they're wearing masks...China needs to get their act together and impose some environmental regulations..

Damn, they start doing that, the price of your jeans may go up a buck!

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Let's see if they wear them 24/7 while they're in China. Actually, seeing asians running around with masks isn't that unusual, SARS had 'em all sporting one for a while.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Damn, they start doing that, the price of your jeans may go up a buck!

We've been selling our garbage/recyclables to them buy the ton, they'll figure out a way to package their pollution and sell it back to us. Heck, a lot of their smog is floating over here already.

 

[andyzee]

We've been selling our garbage/recyclables to them buy the ton, they'll figure out a way to package their pollution and sell it back to us. Heck, a lot of their smog is floating over here already.

Good point

 

[dmc]

I'm glad they're wearing masks...China needs to get their act together and impose some environmental regulations..

no doubt...

next Olympics should be in India... Get them to clean up their stuff too..

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Breaking news......Maskers apologize to the chinese for overreacting by wearing masks.

 

[Marc]

Breaking news......Maskers apologize to the chinese for overreacting by wearing masks.

Must be tough getting old :dunce:

USA Cyclists wear dust masks to Beijing - then apologize... your thoughts?