Man, the cultural chasms between China and the west are wide...
"The wearing of protective masks upon our arrival into Beijing was strictly a precautionary measure we as athletes chose to take, and was in no way meant to serve as an environmental or political statement.
"We deeply regret the nature of our choices. Our decision was not intended to insult BOCOG or countless others who have put forth a tremendous amount of effort to improve the air quality in Beijing.
The article goes on to discuss how the "perception of pollution problems" was seen as disrespectful of the organizers. Granted, if Mike Friedman, Bobby Lea, Sarah Hammer and Jennie Reed put the masks on for the cameras and made stump speeches about the environment, that'd be one thing. Instead, they were among the 200 athletes given the masks by the USOC. And if the Beijing hosts are touchy about pollution, they're in for a stiff dose of culture shock, in the form of media coverage that -- while far, far from perfect -- isn't going to swallow the up-is-down, day-is-night style of reporting the Chinese government typically demands. Seriously, "perception of pollution problems"... is this an Onion piece?
Update: Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts is on the case. Nice article. Breaking news: Peter Ueberroth is a phony mouthpiece.