Disappointing as it may be for all you tennis aficionados, defending Olympic gold medalist Justine Henin may pass on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing due to her battles with asthma and the expected poor air quality next summer for the games.
Henin withdrew from the China Open in September because of her asthma and is worried she might also be forced to skip the Beijing Games next August.
“I’ve had asthma for a few months now and I felt very bad in New York at the end of the (U.S. Open), so Beijing, I was really concerned about that,” Henin said Monday at the Sony Ericsson Championships. “I was pretty disappointed because I wanted to play the tournament and get used to the conditions.”
International Olympic Committee inspection team leader Hein Verbruggen called air quality in Beijing “a big problem.” The remarks came a week after the United Nations said air pollution was a major concern for athletes’ health ahead of the games. [LINK TO STORY]
In brighter news, Justin Henin might skip the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, which will undoubtedly increase the odds of having an Olympic final with two woman that don’t look like men. Also, odds makers have recalibrated their models and are hedging toward a final with four breasts.
