What could go wrong in Beijing? Everything.

The world's top marathon runner won't compete in the Olympic marathon because of concerns about Beijing's toxic air. Pollution worries have also led more than 20 countries to move their pre-Olympic training to Japan. But nobody knows quite what to expect in August.
"The magnitude of the pollution in Beijing is not something we know how to deal with. It's a foreign environment. It's like feeding an athlete poison," said a respiratory expert assisting American marathoners.


Scenario: The Yellow Sea, the Olympic sailing venue, is full of ships this week. Unfortunately, they're not racing vessels; they're gunk removers, dispatched to clean up an enormous algae outbreak that's choking 5,000 square miles of open water. The Chinese government hopes to remove the green stuff by mid-July. But for now, international sailing teams are practicing in what looks like a putting green.
"There's no way you can sail through it," said British windsurfer Bryony Shaw. "If it's still here in August, it could be a real problem."

Scenario: International concern for Chinese repression in Tibet has already sparked protests in San Francisco, London, and Paris, where the Olympic torch was briefly extinguished. The Chinese government has cracked down violently on demonstrations in recent months, and numerous world leaders have responded by boycotting the opening ceremony. The worst-case scenario, as seen earlier this year: The Chinese government goes overboard trying to squelch demonstrations and kills more than 100 pro-Tibetan activists.
"There are people all over the world who are Tibet supporters and this is just the first of a cascading waterfall of actions," said American Shannon Service, who was expelled from China after staging an anti-Olympic protest on Mount Everest.

Scenario: What if everything goes off without a hitch in Beijing but no one is watching? Television rights-holders have complained that the Chinese bureaucracy is making it impossible to plan their coverage, with reports of broadcasting equipment being tied up for security reasons. Even if the cameras do arrive, it's highly unlikely that China will allow live coverage from Tiananmen Square or the Forbidden City.
"We are two weeks away from putting equipment on a shipment and we have no clearance to operate, or to enter the country or a frequency allocation," said Sandy MacIntyre, director of news for AP Television News.

More stringent visa policies put in place in the last few months have already hurt tourism in Beijing. The new rules require certain travelers to show invitation letters, airline tickets, and proof of hotel arrangements before applying for entrance into China. A foreign ministry spokesman has stated that these policies reflect China's concern for security during the Olympics. If high-profile visitors, journalists, or athletes can't get into the country, though, the bad PR might drown out any potential security gains.
"Business is so bleak. ... Since May, very few foreigners have checked in. Our occupancy rate has dropped by 40 percent,

Scenario: The U.S. Olympic team, among other delegations, has raised concerns about the safety of the food in the Olympic Village. In response to a New York Times report that the U.S. team was bringing its own beef, chicken, and pork to Beijing, a Chinese official said that outside food would not be allowed in athletes' lodgings.
"We had it tested and it was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive," said an American caterer, explaining the potential problem with serving the U.S. team Chinese chicken breasts.

Scenario: Getting water to Beijing, a landlocked city, is a major undertaking. The Chinese government has begun diverting more than 39.6 billion gallons to a dried-up lake near the capital city—a public-works project that has displaced an estimated 300,000 citizens.
"Sometimes you wonder if they need all the water more than us here," said Shi Yinzhu, a Chinese sheep herder.

Scenario: If you thought locusts were a problem only in Old Testament times, think again. In 2002, the pests devoured 3.7 million acres of farmland in northern and central China. The insects are now eating their way through Inner Mongolia just in time for the start of the games.

Scenario: The official Web site of the Beijing Olympics says, "Terrorism, in particular, poses the biggest threat" to this year's games. More than 500 detailed security plans have supposedly been mapped out, and one Communist Party official announced that Chinese authorities have already raided a "terrorist gang" with plans for an Olympics takedown. While al-Qaida is a natural suspect for sabotage, keep an eye on Uighur extremists, Muslims in Western China who have become increasingly active in recent months.
The U.S. State Department has warned Americans that there is a "heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist acts within China in the near future."