Star treatment, Olympic style

I know the United States always wins big, because, well, we are a big nation. But I doubt any American will receive the kind of treatment from Uncle Sam as the Brits are from the crown

…

Team Britain flew from Beijing to London on a specially commissioned British Airways Boeing 747, fitted with a gold nose and stocked with extra champagne.

Gold medal middleweight boxer James Degale, 22, described the 10-hour flight as “just sitting back chilling, sipping the champers.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was at the airport to greet the Olympians, who will also meet Queen Elizabeth II at

Buckingham Palace on October 16 during the official day of celebrations.

British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan has already said he is considering cash awards for the medal-winning athletes.

Double gold medalist Rebecca Adlington has already received the most distinctive honor. Her local pub in the English town of Mansfield will be renamed “The Adlington Arms.”

Its owners said the 19-year-old swimmer could always eat there for free.

…

Last week Brown strongly implied the Olympic team was in line for honors — titles such as knighthoods bestowed by the queen.

Special jet, champagne, meeting HRH, cash rewards (I know, this was only a “possibility”), possible knighthoods. And a pub named after you!

Also, The Guardian is reporting British athletes will have, literally, free reign of London during training for the XXX Olympiad. I wonder if Bloomberg would have done the same if New York had won the bid? With MTA’s current fiscal issues, I somehow doubt that idea would fly well in public opinion.

Differences of (medical?) opinion

So the first U.S. athletes to wear their masks were four track cyclists (makes sense, after all, they’ll be competing indoors, so why even acclimate to the atmosphere?). But this NY Times story seems to show differences of opinion the USOC has about the masks. The first one — from the committee’s lead physiologist:

They were the first athletes to be seen wearing masks or doing anything proactive to combat the effects of pollution.

The masks they wore were specially designed by and issued to them by the United States Olympic Committee. The U.S.O.C.’s lead exercise physiologist, Randy Wilber, had advised U.S. Olympians to wear the masks on the plane and as soon as they stepped foot in Beijing.

The second committee source, however, disagrees. One must wonder here whether an ulterior motive is at hand

But U.S.O.C. officials were apparently unhappy with that choice, reprimanding the cyclists for walking off the plane wearing the masks, two of the team members said. The two cyclists said they did not remember the name of the U.S.O.C. official.

…

During a previously scheduled news conference Tuesday night, Ljungqvist dismissed the athletes’ actions as unnecessary.

“I don’t see the need for it, honestly,” Ljungqvist said of the masks, although he noted that some athletes with respiratory conditions may need to wear them.

Now, who are you going to believe: The doctor, or the guy who does not want to piss off China?