French snowboarder wishes Beijing Games were greener

BEIJING: While most athletes have been praising the Beijing Olympics facilities, French snowboarder Chloe Trespeuch expressed disappointment that all competitions were being held on artificial snow.

There will be no natural snow at the Yanqing site, where notably the Alpine skiing events take place, or in the Zhangjiakou zone, where biathlon and snowboard are scheduled.

"I am a little disappointed that they chose a place not necessarily adapted to the practice of winter sports and that it was necessary to reshape it rather than to go in an adapted place," Trespeuch, who last year co-founded the Ecoglobe pro-environment association, told reporters on Thursday (Feb 3).

While she said it would not prevent her from taking part in the snowboard cross events, Trespeuch, the world number two, wished athletes could have a say in future decisions.

"I hope that we all talk about it and that we realise that we're not okay with the negative impact on nature and that the next events will be more respectful of nature," she said.

"We have to talk about it and we athletes have to indicate that it's important to put nature at the centre of the project."