Beijing testeó incidencia de polución con 42k

With just 110 days to go until the Olympic flame lights up Beijing, a marathon test run has gone off without a hitch. Athletes say pollution was not a problem. Correspondents S. Le Belzic and H. Morton report from Beijing.

On April 19, at Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, one hundred athletes are poised at the starting line for an Olympic test marathon, on the very same course where the actual event will take place in August. With just 110 days left to go until the start of the games themselves. Under the watchful eye of the large portrait of Mao Tse-Tung, the athletes tough out the rain and for the moment have put aside the pollution issue. They are treating it like a practise run; about sport and nothing else.

Serud Badtochir, who won this test marathon, said, "I didn't have any problems with the pollution today. The weather was good, except for a bit of rain, but I don't think there was any pollution."

This race a test not just for the athletes but for the organizers as well. They are practicing for the arrival of the competitors in the brand new national stadium, are getting a happy taste of things to come. Today talk is not of protests, but of sport...

Ka Wing Li, another marathon runner, said, "All those politics, all those things are beyond my comprehension. And I just follow my heart. There are different ways of showing your disapproval and disagreements, but I would say I would not consider doing those things."

This latest test event has gone according to plan... Come August, organisers will be hoping the Beijing summer keeps away the rain -- as well as the rancor and controversy surrounding the event.

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