Olympic athletes don red lenses to combat Beijing smog

Juniper Foo | Jul 30, 2008

At least one Olympic team is seeing red over the pollution at the upcoming Beijing games. Word is that the English hockey team is training with red lenses which are said to help with visibility in the Chinese city's smog-filled conditions. And it won't come as a great surprise should other participants take the cue as well.

The performance-enhancing contact lenses may make the wearer look like Darth Maul, but these are specially designed for players to see better, particularly in bright sunlight.

Beijing's bad air has been making headlines as it nears its August 8 Olympic Games launch. A recent Greenpeace report on the Chinese capital's air quality noted that the city was well short of international guidelines and that levels of particulates in the air were twice as high as recommended by the World Health Organisation.

In fact, fearing for his health, Olympic gold-medallist and world record holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, who suffers from asthma, reportedly pulled out of the Beijing marathon. Australia has also told its athletes that they can withdraw if the air pollution poses a threat.

On its part, the Chinese authorities have promised that the haze pollution will not last throughout the Games and are taking measures that include banning cars on alternative days according to licence plate numbers, closing a number of factories, and playing weather God.

Via The Sun | Picture credit: Nike

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