US Olympic cyclists forced to apologise to China

"I apologize for trying to stay alive. I'll do better next time. I promise."

I am sure the "apology " was not the cyclists idea and I would like to know who the arm twister was.

If anyone with the USOC was responsible, they should be removed.

I think that China shoud apologize for the way the have treated their citizens in the past before we apologize for not wanting to breathe the gross air before competitions...

This is stupid. China has had years to get their shit together and yet they still were unable to get this problem under control. Now they want to take offense because some athletes are just looking out for their own well-being by wearing masks? GTFOH.

I think China should apologize to all the athletes for their abysmal air quality. You should not be able to see air, and furthermore, it should not be brown.

I don't believe they should have to apologize, but I do believe it was a poor show. How would you like it if someone came to your home wearing a gas mask? So rude and pretentious. And don't say they were "protecting their lives" because you're not going to die from breathing in some pollution for a few weeks--after all, the Chinese have lived there their whole lives and they are still alive. Besides that, these athletes are in top physical condition. I mean, pollution IS bad, but it's not quite at a critical level yet. Plus there was just something on current the other day about how the Chinese measures to reduce pollution in the weeks before the Olympics have actually helped a bit.

Edit: Well...I have just read another article about how bad the pollution in China really is. I knew it was bad, but I didn't think it was quite as bad as it is. I suppose I was wrong after all.

Yeah, but I think they should stay in top physical condition and so do their trainers.

They had a lot of time to try to clean up. Cleaning up a few weeks before won't cut it, I don't think.

these athletes train their entire lives for this one moment...I am sure in other parts of their lives they do things to keep themselves healthy this is just one more example...they should not have to apologise to want to stay healthy

Damn, China got power. They are making people apologizing for their bad air quality.

This is horseshit!! Wh yapologize!! Oh yeah we owe them money........

Crazy racist ninja masks.

I apologize for trying to protect the machine I've spent my entire life building by adding an air filter when it's exposed to dangerous particulate matter?

Apologize to my...

So the US cyclists need to apologize to China for wearing masks in a Chinese urban area, but all the Chinese walking around Chinatown in San Francisco with masks on are ok? Double standards suck.

That air in the video looks horrible.

That's a bunch of BS... I would do the same, I wouldn't want to breate that nasty air...and I live in L.A.

I understand how China could be offended, but it's only true! The truth hurts, and our athletes shouldn't have to apologize for being safe. Anyway, a large portion of China wears those masks, so why pick on us?

Wow I can't believe they actually apologized to the Chinese's Olympics game organizers, thats pretty ridiculous.

apologize?! For What?! Visibility is practically ZERO! I wouldn't want to open my eye's in that mist let alone breathe it in! These guy's did the right thing!

It makes the Chinese Look bad and forces them to lose face.

It is considered disrespectful to show up and behave like the country is too dirty for your precious lungs.

Even if it is true.

The Olympics is an opportunity for the chinese government to show how great they are and the last thing they need is people making that more difficult for them.

It really bothers me when I see people making it hard for the Chinese Government.

Remember those peasants that had the gaul to try to continue living where the stadium was to be built? They should apologize too. How dare they!

Considering Bush is visiting, despite the fact that sitting presidents don't usualy do so, and that he didn't do so for our NATO ally Greece in 04 than the answer is likely some one in the State Department twisting thier arms as China has 600,000,000 dollars and we are in the biggest trade deficit ever. I want our cylcists to win, and that means not clogging thier lungs. I hope they wipe the floor with the Chinese and don't apologize.

Why are we worried about what China might think? It's like being forced to go to a birthday party for a total jerk.

I've been told by a previous professor, that is a science consultant in China, that the air quality is just abysmal. Akin to the fog in England in regards to thickness.
I would definitely wear a respiration mask while there. I spent two days in New York City and was coughing up black-flecked mucus out of my lungs for over a week. New York City doesn't hold a flame to the pollution floating around China's urban areas. It could most definitely harm someones performance.

ahhh the REAL games begin!!!!

So weak. Chinese leadership is a group of fat, drooping pussies.

The Chinese Olympic team will have an especially big home court advantage this year due to the rest of the world's athletes just struggling just to breathe...

China should apologize to the ATHLETES for the environment in which they are required to compete. It's high time that China got over its inferiority complex and stopped requiring everyone else to handle them with kid gloves. On second thought, maybe not; the results of that change of attitude would be pretty frightening.

I don't think the cyclist should of had to apologize but at the same time it was a stunt that went bad by the cyclist to wear the mask inside. at the same time China is making most of their people suffer in other small town farmers and villages by rediverting their water supplies for months just for the games ending up with more starving people in another country all for entertainment, Also the media is hyping it up with this story making it bigger than it really is - it is just a olympian wearing a mask in a airport - whatever statement the mask wearing did- it was send - the cyclist shouldn't apologize at all

Completely ridiculous. Even if it was only a precaution, any athlete should be able to wear a mask to protect their lungs and compete to the best of their ability. Beijing has polluted air, it's no big secret; take measures to clean it up and people won't have to wear masks.

In a video I watched about athletes preparing for the games in China, it was said that athletes would be provided masks by the US olympic people (I dunno, officials I guess).
So I guess you can use the mask they give you, but not if you bring your own.

There's nothing wrong with protecting your lungs from bad pollutants i nthe air but most likely they will have to take their mask off during competition making them prone to the bad air there. Everyone has a right to wear a protective mask whenever they please but - I would however not inside a airport, and yes it was intended to show a statement but also I don't think they should apologize to the Chinese Officials at all- a time and place for everything. And China needs to do alot better job on cleaning up pollution for people to breathe especially little small children who breathes the same contaminated air since birth.

well, this is a wake up call to all of us. bad air quality isn't only in China.

the standard by which we should be developing and implementing our technologies is whether or not they allow us to breathe without a damn mask on.

It wasn't the fact that the cyclists wore masks that is the issue here. It was the fact that they wore the masks in the terminals AND as soon as they got off the plane.

If they wanted to wear it as they were walking around outside...fine. If they wanted to wear them during bike preps...fine. But for heaven's sake...they were INDOOOOOOORS and hadn't even seen the outside air yet.

Los Angeles' air is not much better....but I bet if the cycling competition were to be held in LA, the american team WOULD NOT show up with masks. so all their excuses about wanting to keep their lungs tip-top is just that....an excuse.

By no means am I a scientist, but when the smog is so bad you can see it and smell it; common sense would say protect your lungs!

I know the Olympic committee says it's OK, but when your body is your livelihood (especially for Olympic athletes) I don't think it's a big deal.

Maybe they should have gone for a more patriotic color instead of ninja black though. . .

The United States has to constantly be careful not to offend China...
if provoked they could turn their magic cloud-seeding machine towards our country and sink us.

I think that was probably going a bit insultingly too far - I mean, the air's not *quite* toxic. Mind you, a lot of Beijingers wear face masks..