British Will Allow Athletes To Wear Masks In Beijing

British Athletes May Wear Masks During Beijing Olympic Competitions

British Olympic Association (BOA) officials have decided to "risk offending their Chinese hosts" in the Beijing Olympics this summer by allowing British athletes "to wear masks while competing in order to contain the impact of air pollution," according to Owen Slot of the LONDON TIMES. BOA CEO Simon Clegg said, "This is a competitive issue. We are in the business of trying to win medals here and beat our competitors. ... We need to put in place whatever strategies are appropriate to ensure that we give our athletes the best chance of delivering." The USOC, however, "may well issue its athletes with masks, but will simultaneously inform them not to wear them while competing." USOC Senior Sports Physiologist Dr. Randy Wilber: "We have decided that we will not run the risk of creating bad relations with China by creating embarrassment by wearing masks during competition. Hopefully the bad air will not be an issue, but during competition you will not see any American wearing a mask." Slot notes the masks were commissioned by UK Sport's Research and Innovation Unit and designed by scientists at Brunel Univ. in London. The Canadian and Australian teams "will not wear [the masks] at all" (LONDON TIMES, 2/14).