José Maria Odriozola, president of the Spanish Athletics Federation, said Tuesday that he was confident pollution would not be a problem at the Beijing Olympics.
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Agencies
José Maria Odriozola |
Speaking at the official presentation of the Spanish Athletics team for the Olympics, Odriozola expressed his confidence that the competitors would be racing in good conditions.
"I was in Beijing two years ago for the World Junior Games and it was at exactly the same time of the year. I had no problems. My eyes didn't sting for example, and nobody had any complaints at all," said Odriozola.
The only thing that the athletes didn't like was the heat and the humidity at the Junior Games, he said.
"The conditions in Beijing will be the same for everyone -- hot and humid. You have to be certain you can win and we will see if we can all return home happy and content," he told Spanish athletes. "There are no miracles in athletics. If you do the work and you are the best, then you win a medal."
Odriozola said he was confident that the Chinese authorities would do everything possible to ensure the pollution-free Olympics.
Spain has announced an Olympic team of 53 athletes, which could be increased in number if others can reach the Olympic minimum qualifying requirements in the next 48 hours.
"It is slightly less than we have taken to previous Games, but we have to admit that we have a lagoon in sprint events. David Rodriguez (who will run 100 and 200 meters) is the only male sprinter that we are taking and of course that means we will miss out on several events," said Odriozola.
Despite the lack of options in sprinting, Odriozola was optimistic that the Spaniards could still be among the medalists in Beijing and hoped for four athletics medals as Spain won in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
"We are going to have athletes battling it out in the finals of half of the events we are participating in," he explained.
"We are especially strong in middle distance running and in walking. I am confident that of those who get into a final, between eight and 10 have got a serious medal chance and if 40 or 50 percent of them actually win a medal, then it would be marvelous."
"I'd like to beat what we did in Barcelona (four medals). We have quality athletes, you need some luck, but our people are convinced of their ability," he added.
There may be a huge will to win in the Spanish side. But Odriozola insisted that his federation was doing its best to ensure that they were racing clean by carrying out continual anti-doping tests.
"To begin with, we had around 120 potential Olympic athletes to test, then when that was reduced, 80 received a second test and around 60 have already been tested a minimum of three times and some more than that."
"We have also been building up and following blood profiles to check hemocrit levels which could point to the use of something such as EPO. I won't put my hand in the fire for anyone, but we have done all we can to ensure they are clean. Of course now the testing procedure will continue in the Olympic Village," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2008)