Intrepid Journalists discover the truth about Beijing’s air quality

Not much of a fuss has been made about it, but apparently the air quality is a little below par in Beijing, and thus the world’s healthiest people may not be able to compete at the best of their abilities when the Games open later today. I know, I’d heard nothing about it either.

The guys from the D.C. Sports Blog (hilariously re-named Beijing Sports Smog for the next few weeks) have run a thoroughly impartial test on the air quality in China’s capital, by sending out an unfit sports blogger and a woman who smokes to pound the streets. They concluded by saying they felt “a lot thirstier and a lot crummier” than they normally would. Granted, Beijing has its pollution problems, but isn’t this kind of test about as fair as putting Wayne Rooney on Newsnight to debate the political pressures facing Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf?