3. Olympic committee's about-face in Beijing

Olympic etiquette dictates that you don't diss your host country. So in August, when four U.S. cyclists disembarked from their plane in Beijing wearing masks to guard against the city's notorious air pollution, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) demanded that the athletes apologize to the Chinese. The only problem was that the masks had been provided to the cyclists by the USOC itself. That's right. The USOC forced athletes to apologize for wearing gear it had specifically designed for them and recommended they wear. The cyclists said the negative encounter, which took place three days before the Games started, prevented them from performing their best and earning any medals. In September, the USOC sent a letter to the athletes, acknowledging it had mishandled the situation.

第三、美國運(yùn)動(dòng)員戴面罩參加北京奧運(yùn)
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奧運(yùn)會(huì)禮節(jié)規(guī)定：運(yùn)動(dòng)員不能有詆毀東道國的言論或行為。但在2008北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)前，四名美國腳踏車運(yùn)動(dòng)員卻帶著面罩走下飛機(jī)，聲稱是為了避免城市空氣污染。對(duì)此，美國奧林匹克委員會(huì)要求這些運(yùn)動(dòng)員向中國人民道歉。但萬分尷尬的是，這些面罩恰好是美國奧委會(huì)特別為運(yùn)動(dòng)員準(zhǔn)備的。這些運(yùn)動(dòng)員賽后表示，此次事件對(duì)他們影響很大，令他們發(fā)揮失常，沒能贏得任何獎(jiǎng)牌。9月，美國奧委會(huì)在給運(yùn)動(dòng)員信中承認(rèn)，是他們誤導(dǎo)了運(yùn)動(dòng)員。