Athletes have to be relieved. Until the situation improves, the air quality is going to be awful for everyday folks; can you imagine what it would be like for athletes who are pushing themselves to their physical limits and taking in big gulps of gunky air?

Yep, it was a wise call to protect the athletes. Too bad we can't take similar measures for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The U.N. Environment Program released a report a few days ago that found air pollution in the city was three times as high as the level recommended by the World Health Organization.

This is the nasty stuff that can cause asthma and other respiratory ailments.

It would be horrible on any given day; I can't fathom what it would be like for an athlete, especially one who has dedicated much of his or her life to molding their bodies into the best physical shape possible to reach the ultimate dream of participating in an Olympics. Some will get medals as memories, others could get lung damage.

The IOC is concerned enough to say some endurance events might have to be postponed or held elsewhere if the pollution is too bad, and Beijing officials are taking steps with plans to relocate many of the polluting businesses outside of the city and are creating more public transportation options.

But experts believe China's growing population is going to offset any good measures taken.

Don't get me wrong, I know air pollution is a concern everywhere and was an issue during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. It's particularly bad in Utah during the winter and was a concern in 2002 for the Olympics, but as Sheryl Heying, who monitored the air quality for the Utah Department of Environmental Quality said, we got lucky.

Timely winds came in and moved the cruddy air elsewhere (not nice to share with our neighbors, I know) and we didn't have any "red" days during the Olympics.

Beijing won't be as lucky, not with pollution levels regularly surpassing safe limits.

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, a pro mountain biker and 2004 Olympian who easily has conquered trails surrounding Park City for racing titles, was no match for the air pollution in Beijing, recently pulling out of a race there 30 minutes into it because he had trouble breathing and threw up. He wasn't alone, as he reported in his blog that just eight of the 50 starters were able to finish.

The U.S. Olympic Committee will give its athletes masks to use when they are outside (I'm betting those are going to be a bigger collector's item than pins that are traded), but as of now, athletes won't use them in competitions, when they might need them the most.

Athletes also are being advised to acclimate elsewhere and go to Beijing just before their competitions to lessen the impact the pollution will have.

"Faster, higher, stronger" is the Olympic motto. I can't believe that athletes will have to use masks to help them reach those goals.

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* LYA WODRASKA can be reached at lwodraska@sltrib.com. To write a letter about this or any sports topic, send an e-mail to sportseditor@sltrib.com.