Respiratory adaptations in Olympic athletes

for the 2008 Olympic Games, the sport community is waiting to see what the impact of the environment and air quality might be on athletes’ performance. Speculation by the media has painted an apprehensive picture, but what are the real concerns regarding the performance of these extraordinary athletes, especially those who have asthma? In this article, we describe the available evidence of the effect of air quality on performance, especially as it pertains to athletes with asthma. We searched MEDLINE using the key words “athletes,” “sports,” “asthma,” “respiratory,” “allergy,” “airway hyperresponsiveness,” “air quality,” “pollution” and “exercise.” We also participated in a review of past and recent research in this domain by international experts during an International Olympic Committee meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, in January 2008.