BEIJING (AP):

WITH THE Olympics six months away, air pollution is taking some lustre off the glistening venues and the meticulous planning aimed at controlling every facet of the Beijing Games.

Athletes and coaches are talking openly about the dirty air. Dozens of countries are setting up pre-Olympic training camps in Japan or South Korea. The powerful American swim team is basing itself far away in Singapore. There are plans to test facemasks - if not in competition, at least during training and leisure time.

Struggling with the ozone

Beijing has struggled to reduce the sooty mix of ozone, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide that often blankets the city at a level five times higher than the World Health Organisation's (WHO) safety standard.

"It's not easy," acknowledged Deng Yaping, the four-time Olympic gold medallist in table tennis and the deputy director of the Athletes' Village, which will house 17,000 athletes and officials. "The environment is not easy. And it's not short term so that you can see the results."

A member of the Communist Party and the government's top advisory body, Deng, said the pollution was a "world problem".

Like many Chinese, she pointed out that Olympics in Los Angeles and Athens were also prefaced by pollution fears.

"I'm sure we will make every possible effort to make a cleaner environment for all the athletes," added Deng, who was voted China's Top Female Athlete of the 20th Century.