Cyclists compete in the men's road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, in Juyongguan, near the Great Wall of China, on August 9, 2008. (Daniel Garcia/Getty Images)
The first event of the Games was the road race, a 245km journey from Beijing’s Forbidden City to the Great Wall of China which would prove to be a serious test of the athlete’s ability to cope with the heat, humidity and smog of Beijing summer. According to a report by British newspaper The Independent, more than a third of the field withdrew from the race complaining about extreme heat and air pollution.
Germany’s Stefan Schumacher, a favorite to win the race said that the humidity and the smog made an already difficult route even more difficult. “I have a very, very fierce headache,” he said after he dropped out of the race. “I assume that it’s due to the air pollution. Due to the air, it feels as if one is at 3000 meter elevation. One cannot breathe; the air is so thick and then the added smog.”
2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was also unable to withstand the heat. “I simply no longer had any strength in my legs,” he said after he had given up. In the end, Spain’s Samuel Sanchez won the race.
Organizers for the tennis event said that they would allow breaks during the match to make it possible for competitors to deal with the humidity and heat which exceeds 35 degrees Celsius or 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Several athletes remarked that the conditions were the toughest that they had ever faced.
