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About one in eight of New Zealand's Olympic team will need help to breathe when they compete in China's polluted air.
All Beijing-bound athletes are being tested by doctors and scientists working under a Sport and Recreation NZ (Sparc) programme to check their vulnerability to conditions such as asthma, brought on by the smog which makes the city's air quality among the worst on Earth.
They have found that some will need medication which requires special dispensation from the World Anti-Drug Agency to compete.
Dr Richard Young, who heads Sparc's research, technology and innovation work, said 125 athletes had so far been through asthma screening.
Young said between 10 to 12 per cent had been found to be sufferers of problems such as exercise-induced asthma, a condition which can be made worse by pollution.
Triathlon NZ's high-performance manager Stephen Farrell said several triathletes had been picked up as having potential problems, though he would not name them.
They had been working with the medical team to make sure they had the right treatment available to them although "that's quite a process", said Farrell.
Medications such as Ventolin inhalers are available, but they contain prohibited substances. Using them requires a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) from the World Anti-Drug Agency and the International Olympic Committee - not having a TUE risks a ban.
Carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and air-borne particles of dust and other matter make Beijing pollution an issue organisers have been battling to deal with.
The IOC said this week that while it did not believe the air threatened athletes' health, it conceded performances could be affected.
