Jock Itch

Environmental Problems Alarm Athletes

Here's a new green group you may want to join: Jocks for the Environment. Actually, that group doesn't exist, but people who might identify with the description are gathering today in Tokyo for the Global Forum for Sport and the Environment. Participants (including Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France winner) will discuss, among other things, the results of a recent survey about how environmental problems affect athletes. The survey found that sports-minded folk are leaving cities or joining gyms to skirt smog, wearing ever-stronger sunblock and more clothing to protect against increased ultraviolet radiation, and changing their diets to avoid chemicals in food that could negatively affect their performance. One-quarter of the respondents reported that the environments in which they worked out were "unacceptable."