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September 8, 2008 1:16:37 AM CDT

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US Athletes Weigh Wearing Masks in Beijing

Posted Jul 21, 08 11:34 AM CDT in World,  Sports 

(Newser) – To protect its athletes from Beijing’s polluted air, the US Olympic Committee has secretly developed a mask for them to wear during next month’s Games, the Wall Street Journal reports. But if the 600-plus American Olympians decide to wear the high-tech filter, they risk insulting their Chinese hosts—not to mention looking like geeks.

“I probably will want to wear it,” says triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker. “Whether I will be allowed to is a different issue.” Adds a team official of the cultural ramifications, “When you're walking around with a mask on, you're basically saying, ‘You guys stink.’” Some point out that all athletes face the same air-quality issues; the top Olympics official, meanwhile, says masks will be “totally useless.”

Source Wall Street Journal

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China's National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, is seen a month before the opening of the Olympic Games, in Beijing Tuesday July 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
Chinese workers labor on scaffolding erected to build an Olympics exhibit at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China Monday, July 14, 2008.   (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
A Chinese paramilitary soldier patrols inside a fence near the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing, China, Thursday, July 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
A woman breathes through a mask to filter out sand particles and other pollution in the air on a windy day in Beijing, China, Tuesday, May 27, 2008.   (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
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China  • 2008 Beijing Olympics  • air pollution  • triathlon


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