Green Daily

Marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie has said that he will not participate in the event during this year's Summer Olympics in Beijing, China because he fears the pollution would damage his health.

Gebrselassie, who suffers from asthma, said in a phone interview with Reuters that he still hoped to compete in the 10,000 metre race, but felt that 42 kilometres would be too dangerous.

Beijing is notoriously polluted, not surprising given that it boasts more than 17 milllion residents and 3 million cars, as well as the occasional massive sandstorm. Government officials have promised to clear the air prior to the games, and Beijing has reportedly spent more than $22 billion on pollution control in the last decade, most of it in the last couple of years (it's interesting to imagine what the air quality might be like if the government hadn't bought ten B2 bombers worth of clean.)

Only a few years ago it would have been impossible to imagine athletes having to bow out of Olympic events because of pollution. Now, as familiarity has taught us to greet each day's horrific environmental news stories with equanimity, something like this doesn't surprise, let alone shock us - and that's just a little bit scary.