MACAU - Britain will not import its own food to the Beijing Olympics.

"We have no major concerns about the food in Beijing," Bernard Cotton,
head of performance for the British Olympic Association, told
reporters Friday in the Chinese territory of Macau.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has also stated it has no concerns about
China's food supply. The USOC will fly in thousands of tons of meat
and other foods to be served at its high-performance training centre
at Beijing Normal University. Most of the food will be served to the
USOC's 400 support personnel. America's 600 athletes will eat the
majority of their meals at the Olympic village.

Cotton said catering facilities at the Olympic village where the bulk
of international athletes will be staying during the Games are "of the
highest order" and the British team was not worried about
contamination.

"One of the dangers of the Olympic village is athletes putting on
weight, not getting ill," he said.

Cotton said there was concern about Beijing's air pollution, and some
athletes might choose to wear face-masks, but no decision had been
taken for the team.

He reiterated British athletes would not be asked to sign any new
agreements restricting them from commenting on political issues during
the Games, other than what was contained in the International Olympic
Committee's charter.

Amid criticism that it was gagging athletes, the BOA appeared to drop
a plan to strengthen the segment of its agreement banning political
comments. Cotton said the agreement would be the same as the one
signed by athletes for the past two Olympics.

"The (IOC) agreement is focused on creating an environment in which
all athletes can concentrate on their performances and not be
distracted by non-performance issues," he said.

Cotton said about half the British team would be based in the tiny
territory of Macau and would travel to Beijing 48-72 hours before
their events.

The choice of Macau had raised eyebrows in the neighbouring Chinese
territory of Hong Kong, which up until 1997 had been a British colony.
Reports suggested Hong Kong's choking pollution had driven the team to
seek an alternative, but Cotton said the decision was based more on
ease of transportation.

"A 25-minute drive from our hotel (in Macau) and our athletes can be
at the most distant training facilities. Our experience of Hong Kong
is that it's very busy, it's frenetic and it wouldn't produce the same
coherent, compact operations," he said.

Asked if he was concerned that the athletes would be distracted by the
plethora of casinos in the former Portuguese colony of Macau - the
only place in China where casino gambling is legal - Cotton said his
team would not risk their performance at the tables.

"They will be the most boring lot of athletes you have ever met," he
said. "They will eat, they will train and they will sleep ... and they
will go to Beijing healthy and rested from their experience in Macau."

The first of more than 250 athletes, coaches and medical staff will
arrive in Macau on July 23.

The Canadian Press, Feb 22, 2008


http://www.meiguoxing.com

MeiGuoXing wrote no explanation for the food contamination, lead paint,
unsafe toys, and shoddy merchandise coming from China.

"The U.S. Olympic Committee has also stated it has no concerns about
China's food supply. The USOC will fly in thousands of tons of meat
and other foods to be served at its high-performance training centre
at Beijing Normal University. Most of the food will be served to the
USOC's 400 support personnel. America's 600 athletes will eat the
majority of their meals at the Olympic village."


OK - this makes a lot of sense. They're shipping in food for support
personnel, but letting the athletes eat subgum paint chips and anti-freeze
soup.

I'm confused.