Canadians to skip Beijing opening ceremony

updated 1:48 p.m. ET June 23, 2008

TORONTO - The Canada athletics team will skip the opening ceremony for the Beijing Games because of the Olympic schedule, as well as concerns about pollution, traffic and access to training.

The Canadians will be training in Singapore when the Summer Olympics open on Aug. 8 in Beijing, seven days before athletics events begin. The Australia track and field team is taking a similar approach, staying in Hong Kong until a few days before scheduled events.

"Not just because of the pollution, but because of the environment of training,'' said Canada coach Les Gramantik. "There's only one track that you train at (in Beijing), it's a relatively long distance and the traffic is always crazy. It's just more peaceful in Singapore.''

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