Olympic athletes will be screened by doctors and medical team at the Games

SINGAPORE is confident China will live up to their promise and put on a “clean” Olympic Games, but at the same time the team will leave no stone unturned to ensure the health of the 25-strong athletic contingent.

:Experts from the Singapore Sports Council’s (SSC) sports medicine and sports science division visited Beijing andQingdao last month to assess conditions to prepare Team Singapore for the Games, which will run from Aug 8-24.

:Said sports physician and acting medical director, Dr Cormac O’Muircheartaigh: “SSC’s Sports Medicine and Sports Science team will be conducting baseline lung function test for all athletes before and during the Games to monitor any changes in their respiratory conditions.

:“Also, team managers will be provided with daily updates on the environmental conditions at Beijing and Qingdao during the Games. Based on these updates, the Team Singapore contingent will be advised on the necessary preventive measures as appropriate.”

:Lung function tests will be used for the first time by Team Singapore and they measure how big a person’s lungs are and how much air he can take in, or out.

:SSC’s doctors will prescribe medication to athletes if they experience wheezing or coughing while in Beijing.

:But O’Muircheartaigh said: “We are confident that the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Organising Committee (Bogoc) will do their best to put in place the necessary steps to minimise pollution risks and pull off a successful Olympics and Paralympic Game.”

Over the last week, organisers have been trying to clean up a sea of algae off the waters of Qingdao, where the sailing competition will be held from Aug 9-21.

Singapore’s sailing contingent are leaving nothing to chance and will be in Qingdao on Saturday to get a first-hand experience of the situation.

Laser standard ace :Koh Seng Leong, Lo Man Yi (women’s laser radial), Xu Yuanzhen and Terence Koh (men’s 470) and Toh Liying and Deborah Ong (women’s 470) will fly the Singapore flag in the Olympic sailing competition and they will be based in Qingdao till July 21 for a training stint.

According to SingaporeSailing chief executive officer Andrew Sanders, the algae could be a factor in race tactics during the Olympics.

“Coach Zhang Yong Qiang, who is from Qingdao, has been talking to his Chinese colleagues over there and it’s understood that most of the problem is within a few hundred metres of the coast and sailors have to sail through (to get to clean water),” said the Aussie.

“The team will be in Qingdao to figure out tactics for the races and we’ll have a good idea by Saturday. But the sailors are used to dealing with such circumstances ... they’ve raced in Perth and Sydney with seaweed and at the Asian Games in Busan in 2006, where there was rubbish in the water.”

:International sailing teams have raised concerns about health problems stemming from the pollution and Singapore team captain, Koh Seng Leong, said: “As far as the algae goes, we’ll need to check the boat’s rudder and centreboard more regularly as the algae might get caught in them.

“I’m also planning to play it safe and have any cuts treated by the team doctor (in case of infection). We won’t know the exact conditions until we get there but we’re all mentally prepared and taking the necessary precautions.”

:Said Sanders: “We are aware that sailors from other countries have fallen sick in the past at test events in Qingdao so our sailors have to be careful about their food and drink bottled water.

“As a precaution, they are also on a vitamin programme, which is a practice for major competitions.”