BEIJING - Having just inhaled millions of breaths while riding for nearly six hours in the men's cycling road race at the Beijing Olympics, Levi Leipheimer gazed thoughtfully over the heads of the eager reporters in front of him and assessed the hazy gray air that shrouded the nearby mountains surrounding the Great Wall.

"I know it looks bad," the Rowland Hall graduate said. "But I don't know if it's as bad as it looks."

Other athletes seem to be coming to the same conclusion.

While air pollution here was such a concern that the U.S. Olympic Committee provided specially designed masks to any of its competitors who wanted them, many of the Utah athletes competing here have encountered surprisingly little problem in one of the world's most polluted cities. The heat and humidity have been much larger concerns, especially for athletes who compete outdoors.

"I don't think I really notice the pollution too much," former Brigham Young steeplechase runner Josh McAdams of Orem said.

Nobody would have thought that, judging by the murky fog that has hung over the city since the Olympics began, obscuring the sun and limiting visibility to almost nothing - much like a Salt Lake Valley winter inversion. Even rain showers on Sunday did little to clear the skies.

In fact, four American cyclists caused an international stir when they stepped off their arriving flight at the Beijing Capital Airport last week wearing protective black masks, drawing a critical response from Olympic officials for appearing to insult the host country. The head of the International Olympic Committee and the chairman of its medical commission have repeatedly said the air is safe for the athletes, and few - if any - local residents have been seen wearing masks on the streets or at competitions.

"The fog you see is based on the basis of humidity and heat," IOC president Jacques Rogge said. "It does not mean to say that this fog is the same as pollution. It can be pollution, but the fog doesn't mean necessarily that it is pollution. Of course, we prefer clean skies, but the most important thing is the health of the athletes being protected."

The Jazz's Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer said they had not had any problem with the air, though they spent most of their time indoors, and steeplechase runner Lindsey Anderson of Morgan said she was "not too worried about it."

But beach volleyball player Jake Gibb of Bountiful said he planned to use a protective mask, and cyclist David Zabriskie of Salt Lake City acknowledged wearing one while training for long stretches - though he said he actually bought it for training in Utah.

"It's just looking out for your health and well-being," Zabriskie said. "I mean, some of the local people wear masks. So I don't really see" the problem with wearing one.

Marathoner Zuzana Tomas, a Slovakian doctoral student at the University of Utah who will spend nearly three hours outside during her race Saturday, was so concerned about the air that she ordered three protective masks, and asked a reporter traveling later to bring one of them to China, if they did not arrive in time for her to pack them on her flight.

Tomas wound up bringing one of the masks, but said she had not used it yet, and had not felt any ill effect of the air until coughing for a time after her training sessions.

"I think I would be more concerned if I knew how bad it was," she said. "But .... I have no idea where to check for air quality."

mcl@sltrib.com