For athletes going to Beijing, they will face more challenges than in sport alone, writes Giles Warrington.
NEXT MONTH sees the start of the Beijing Olympics when, on the evening of August 8th, 2008, the sporting eyes of the world will be focused on China for the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympics.
The Olympic Games represent the greatest sporting event in the world, involving about 10,500 athletes and seven million spectators, with an estimated four billion viewers watching the TV coverage worldwide.
The Irish Olympic team will comprise 51 athletes competing across 12 different sports. For these athletes, the Games represent the pinnacle of their sporting careers and the culmination of at least four years of meticulous planning, committed training and preparation, not to mention personal sacrifices, in the quest for their sporting dreams.
The level of commitment required to succeed at an elite level is possibly best epitomised by the now legendary Olympic rower Steve Redgrave, when it was calculated that for every stroke he rowed in winning his fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he trained for 34 hours!
The pressures of competing and performing against the best athletes in the world will not be the only demands placed on Irish athletes. The Games will pose other significant challenges in terms of environment and climate - not only will jet lag be an issue but it will also be hot, humid and possibly polluted.
Beijing is about 5,100 miles (8,200km) east of Dublin, involving travel across eight time zones, meaning China is eight hours ahead of Irish time.
Travel from Ireland to China requires at least one stopover in mainland Europe. When transfers are factored in, it will effectively take a full day's travel. The cumulative effects of travel fatigue and jet lag will mean that it will take travelling athletes about five to seven days to fully adjust to Beijing time. This will coincide with a critical phase in their final preparations for competition, so effective preparation is key to ensuring the disruption of travel is kept to a minimum.
The local Beijing environment has been described as "soupy", with analysis of climatic data over the past 20 years revealing average maximal temperatures in Beijing for August of about 30 degrees. In terms of humidity, average levels are typically in the region of 80 per cent, while maximum values approach 100 per cent.
To determine the combined impact of heat and humidity the "heat index" is calculated, which combines the effects of heat (air temperature) and humidity to determine subjectively how hot it actually feels.
The typical heat index for Beijing will be about 37.7 degrees, reflecting the high humidity levels which impair the ability to regulate temperature through the evaporation of sweat, despite high levels of fluid loss experienced during training and competition. As a consequence of the high rates of body water turnover (possibly exceeding 10-12 litres per day) which will be particularly experienced during prolonged activities, the risks of dehydration in many events are high and will ultimately impact negatively on performance. To acclimatise, athletes will visit pre-Olympic training camps in locations including Vladivostok in Russia, Osaka in Japan and venues in China.
One issue that has gained extensive media coverage over recent months is pollution. According to official World Health Organisation (WHO) data, Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world. The main forms of pollutants are ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and fine particulates.
Dust storms from the Gobi desert contribute to particulate matter that can be inhaled by humans, which is also caused by high levels of construction in Beijing - a major source of pollution in the city. Combined with the level of emissions associated with the heavy use of fossil fuels, it is clear that air pollution levels in Beijing are very high.
The combination of these pollutants has been shown to cause oxidative stress and impact on normal lung function and may have an adverse impact on athletic performance, particularly in longer duration events and in athletes who suffer from asthma or other airborne allergies.
In terms of protection against a potential inflammatory reaction to these environmental pollutants, one of the initial lines of defence is the consumption of a diet high in antioxidants in the weeks leading up to and during the Olympic competition.
In an effort to improve air quality, initiatives have been established to regulate and clean up car emissions and coal fire burning, as well as relocating heavy industry away from the greater Beijing area. Such plans include the shutting down of heavy industry, the removal of 1.3 million cars from the city and plans are also in place for the "seeding" of clouds for rain to reduce particulate pollution.
The extreme environmental conditions facing athletes competing at Beijing will prove a major challenge to those who are not prepared, while creating an opportunity for those who are.
• Dr Giles Warrington is a sport and exercise physiologist and lecturer in the School of Health and Human Performance at DCU