For the Canadian men’s soccer team, the road to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup led through the famously hostile atmosphere of Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca, built to bolster the nation’s bid to host the 1970 tournament. Visiting teams have long struggled with the thin air at 7,200 feet; in fact, much of the modern approach to altitude training and acclimatization emerged during preparation for the Mexico City Summer Olympics in 1968. But on this occasion the Canadian team turned to Michael Koehle, an environmental physiologist at the University of British Columbia, with a different concern: air pollution.
We’re all familiar with the idea that breathing dirty air is bad. It’s linked to elevated rates of heart and lung disease, diabetes, and even dementia. And there’s growing awareness that those of us who spend a lot of time breathing heavily in the great outdoors may be particularly vulnerable. In fact, more than a decade ago I interviewed Koehle, who is also a consultant with the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific and a team doctor with the Canadian track team, for an Outside article on this very topic….
