Rescheduling of sporting events presents great logistical issues

Beijing's endeavor to become an internationally acclaimed sports metropolis has run into the stark challenge that the city's heavy haze presents to that goal, while experts call for caution on rescheduling events.

When runners of the 2014 Beijing Marathon gathered at Tian'anmen Square in smog on Sunday morning, it appeared as they were attending a mask fair, with many runners wearing all kinds of anti-pollution devices to protect them from the haze.

Pollution-related smog has lingered over North China since early October, affecting outdoor events in Beijing.

"Autumn in Beijing used to be the golden season for outdoor exercise and sporting events, but the smog issues caused by pollution in recent years have seen many of the outdoor events affected," said He Wenyi, sports industry researcher at Peking University Institute for Sport Science. "Beijing's image as a high-end sporting event destination has therefore been tarnished."

Beijing enjoys a spotlight on the world sports calendar every October with a series of elite events, including the China Open tennis tournament, the Tour of Beijing road cycling race and Sunday's marathon.

However, complaints on competing outdoors in Beijing's sometimes extremely bad atmospheric conditions have attracted much media attention and raised doubts about whether outdoor events should be rescheduled for the good of athletes' health.

Despite the severe-pollution alert issued by the meteorological authority on Saturday, the Beijing Marathon organizing committee decided to hold the event as scheduled on Sunday, and He, the researcher, supported the decision.

"The schedule of a mature sporting event is usually decided carefully, considering promotion campaigns, sponsor demands, broadcasting windows and international calendars," He said.

"To reschedule it, organizers would have had to face many logistical challenges and inform all the parties involved at least half a year in advance, which is routine internationally. So postponing the Beijing Marathon only days before the scheduled time is impossible."

Lin Xianpeng, a sports industry professor at Beijing Sport University, agreed, emphasizing that it's unprofessional to change event schedules year by year.

"I think we'd better focus more on joint efforts to control the pollution and improve the air quality rather than considering changing schedules, which were determined for certain reasons," Lin said.

Lin agreed that pollution issues are undermining Beijing's efforts to build a positive world image.

During the Brazilian and Argentinian national soccer teams' trips to Beijing for a head-to-head exhibition game earlier this month, news photographs showed superstar players Lionel Messi and Neymar practicing in heavy haze, covering their mouths covered with their hands.

Argentina head coach Gerardo Martino said, "It's a big challenge for the players to play in such a situation" of so much air pollution.

During a match featuring Chinese tennis star Li Na against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia at the China Open in September of last year, event organizers had to turn on the lighting system for evening sessions because the smog was so thick.

Swedish tennis player Robert Lindstedt later openly denounced the smoggy conditions.

He, the researcher, suggested that authorities include sporting events in the precaution and reaction mechanism for extreme weather conditions for major events.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 10/20/2014 page5)