Common sense defeated in battle with over-the-top precaution

In an Olympic cycling test event held in Beijing last September, just eight of fifty riders finished, most blaming the dropouts on breathing problems and nausea. Accordingly, some American cyclists today turned up at Beijing airport wearing black respiration masks, presumably to combat a fatal pollution problem inside the newly-constructed air conditioned terminal.

Darryl Seibel, chief communications officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee, summed up what everyone was thinking:

I will say this, I am not a scientist, but in my view that was unnecessary.

[Yahoo]