BOCOG's environmental adviser (who I'm sure is not biased) weighs in by claiming Beijing has created an "unprecedented environmental legacy". Those are strong words if you ask me. Particularly given the view from my window this morning. I grew up in the south, I've seen fog before. This is not fog.What I don't understand, is how the weather is allowed to be like this so close to the Olympics. It's long been my understanding that the government can control this sort of thing. Think of the blue skies whenever the IOC visited, or the radiant weather during the African nations meeting in Beijing - which was preceived by many to be a practice run for the Olympics in terms of traffic and weather measures. All of these have been massively successful. I simply just cannot fathom all these global athletes and visitors arriving into this two days before the opening ceremony....
Maybe they ran out of money? Or they are saving their 'seeding' activities for right before the opening ceremony? I predict there will be rain tomorrow and we will have clear skies on Friday.
I've heard rumors that the American athletes will be wearing gas masks during the opening ceremony to protect their health. There's been a lot of hype about how this will offend Beijingers/Chinese. But looking outside, I can't say I blame them really.... I mean, they are world-class athletes! ABC reports that the Australian athletes have pulled out of the opening ceremony completely, and will be based in Hong Kong until their respective events.
The next two days will be very telling. I hope the weather improves, it would be gutting to have top athletes pulling out of events due to the smog. We've already seen that happen with some top African sprinters, who didn't want to take the 'health risk'.
Room with a view - if you can find it!
Just look at the third building down, about 1/4 mile, limited visibility
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