Australian officials defend decision to skip Olympic ceremony

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Olympic officials have defended their decision to ban dozens of athletes from marching at the opening ceremony in Beijing because of concerns about pollution in the Chinese capital.

Although it is not unusual for Australian athletes competing in the first few days to skip the ceremony to save their energy, Athletics Australia has ordered the entire team to stay away from Beijing for as long as possible because of concerns about air quality.

The Athletics events do not start until the second week of competition but Athletics Australia's national performance manager, Max Binnington, told local radio there were genuine concerns about air quality.

"We have had athletes come back from a recent test event and one athlete has got 10 days off training because of a respiratory problem," he told ABC radio.

"We don't want our athletes to be undertaking that sort of risk." Concerns about Beijing's air pollution have been troubling the Australian Olympic Commitee (AOC) for the past few years.

AOC president John Coates announced last year that the country was also preparing a major immunisation programme to protect athletes from infectious diseases, including bird flu and respiratory problems associated with pollution.

Around 1,000 prospective team members were offered vaccinations for hepatitis, typhoid, polio, tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria, measles-mumps-rubella and influenza during a six-month immunisation period.

But Australian officials, fearing a diplomatic backlash, have defended their actions, saying pollution was only part of the reason they wanted their athletes to stay away from Beijing.

Binnington told the Sydney Morning Herald that it was not unusual for Australian athletes to skip the opening ceremony and the decision was in no way a boycott.