Some US Olympic cyclists still wearing masks

BEIJING (AP) Jennie Reed walked down the ramp leading from the cycling track to the bottom floor of the Laoshan Velodrome on Friday, the infamous black mask that created such a stir earlier this week in image-conscious Beijing again wrapped around her nose and mouth.

She got outside, took the mask off, and boarded a bus. No one even seemed to notice.

At least two of the four American cyclists who arrived at Beijing's airport Wednesday wearing the masks - and then issued an apology to Beijing Olympic organizers for doing so - are still wearing them at certain times, citing precautionary reasons.

Reed was the only athlete to been seen wearing one inside the complex Friday, and teammate Bobby Lea acknowledged he uses his when he deems necessary.

"The intent," Lea said, "is just to stay healthy."

Lea did not wear the covering at the velodrome Friday, nor did individual pursuit gold-medal hopeful Sarah Hammer. The fourth American to emerge from Wednesday's flight into Beijing wearing the mask, Michael Friedman, was not at the velodrome Friday, but has indicated on his personal blog that he will continue wearing a mask at times.

"I wish it wasn't taken as an offense to the Chinese," Lea said in an interview with The Associated Press. "It's a shame, because BOCOG has done such a fantastic job. The city, it's almost an entirely different city from what we saw in December. So it is a shame."

Lea, the only of the three involved in the mask-wearing brouhaha who would speak at the velodrome Friday, said his reason for wearing the device stems from an illness he said he contracted quickly upon arriving in Beijing for a World Cup race in December.

Within 30 minutes of getting off the plane for the World Cup, Lea said, his throat was sore and the condition only got worse from there, meaning he could barely do any training before the competition. He didn't want to deal with the same issues again at the Olympics, so he's taking many precautions, including wearing a nasal device on flights.

"Every single day I've thought about these games, I thought about my last experience here and being sick and just missing out on that one ride and potentially missing out on my whole Olympic opportunity," Lea said. "So naturally it's a worry, coming back to the same place."

On Wednesday, U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive officer Jim Scherr said he hoped the 200 or so American athletes in Beijing with the masks would not have to use them.

In a statement Friday, USA Cycling reiterated that athletes can choose to use the masks if they feel it necessary.

"Whatever an athlete feels they need to do to properly prepare for their competition, as long as it's within the rules, those choices are at the discretion of the athletes," USA Cycling spokesman Andy Lee said.

American women's road cyclist Kristin Armstrong, who was in Beijing training at the same time of the track World Cup in December, said she recalled members of that team wearing similar devices almost continually at that time.

She did, however, question if wearing masks coming off the plane that carried them to the Olympics was the best move.

"It's a personal choice," said Armstrong, who is not wearing a mask as she prepares for her two outdoor events, a road race Sunday and a time trial Wednesday. "Unfortunately, it's not just this person or that person, it's cyclists, and I don't want any negativity coming down on this sport as a whole. We have enough problems on our own."

Friedman, on his blog, defended the decision, saying it wasn't solely about Beijing's much-maligned air quality but also for fear of getting sick before racing. He did acknowledge that the choice to wear them coming off the plane was "poor timing."

"I will continue to wear my mask where I deem fit," Friedman wrote. "It's my life and health in the long run, and I would never do something that would purposefully or intently harm the best interest or the public view of either my country or other countries in attendance.'"

The mask-wearing track cyclists are taking other measures of trying to stay healthy as well.

U.S. track coach Andy Sparks said Reed and Hammer decided not to attend Friday's opening ceremony to conserve energy. And Lea stayed out of bars and crowded restaurants during his final pre-Olympic days in the United States, simply not wanting to take the risk of being around too many people and coming down with anything that could impede his chances of being in top form at the games.

So when the decision - which he insists was a smart one, health-wise - to wear the masks turned into international news, Lea was stunned.

"I had absolutely no idea. Blew us away, actually," Lea said. "Airplanes and airports are just breeding grounds for germs. As an athlete in peak physical form, our immune systems are actually lower than normal. Had I been flying anywhere in the U.S., I would have been wearing a mask, just being around that many people. It's the same thing."

Copyright 2009 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.