* U.S. cyclists apologise for wearing masks * Weatherman sees stubborn haze lifting for Friday opening * Beijing has extra anti-pollution moves in reserve * Tropical downpour may wash the skies clean By Douglas Hamilton BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Four U.S. Olympic cyclists who arrived for the Beijing Games wearing breathing masks have apologised for their actions, clearing some of the bad air generated by fears about pollution. Organisers of the Games in the sprawling metropolis of 15 million people crossed their fingers with two days to go to Friday's opening ceremony, which China fervently hopes will see fireworks flashing up into clear evening skies. But a stubborn haze persisted over the city on Wednesday, drawing a gray veil over a skyline that sprouts new highrise blocks as China's economic boom continues to reverberate. Hot, humid air with the temperature hitting 34 degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit) kept a muggy lid over the city, which has already pulled millions of cars off the roads and halted factory production to improve air quality. But meteorologists said chances of the haze lifting over the next two days were good. A storm in the South China Sea was approaching Hong Kong, where Olympic equestrian events are scheduled to start on Saturday and might have to be delayed. But "severe" Tropical Storm Kammuri could bring welcome rain later to Beijing, perhaps washing the skies clean for Friday. THIRD OF U.S. TEAM HAVE MASKS Senior U.S. Olympic Committee official Jim Scherr said the Olympic cyclists who landed at Beijing airport wearing black respiratory masks had been "a little bit overcautious". "Those athletes regret that action and they have written an apology to BOCOG (Beijing organising committee) on their own behalf," he told a news conference. But Scherr confirmed that about one third of the U.S. team -- or some 200 athletes -- had been issued with the same type of mask prior to arrival in China and would not be prevented from using them if they saw the need. Athletes were understandably concerned about anything that might impair their performance in sports where a few hundredths of a second can separate gold from fourth place, he noted. Beijing has shut factories, pulled cars from its roads and spent 120 billion yuan ($17.6 billion) to combat chronic pollution and ensure smog does not shroud the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. The city is holding off on plans to ground more cars and close more factories, hoping the weather will clear by itself. "We haven't been told to implement any additional measures," Li Jianguo, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Communications, told Reuters.Germany's sporting director Bernhard Schwank said the conditions were as expected. "A lot of athletes have been moaning and groaning when they they first got off their airplanes and got their first feel of it, but most of those here have already grown accustomed to the conditions," Schwank said. "So far, there have been no health complaints." NOT A NEW WORRY The Athens 2004 Games were also plagued in advance by fears that summer smog, heat and humidity would make them the hottest in modern history, with temperatures of 24-34 degrees Celsius (75-93 degrees Fahrenheit), and athletes would fade away. Late summer sea winds off the Mediterranean helped sweep away pollution, alleviating the worst smog fears. Heading for the Los Angeles Olympics 20 years earlier, before the world started taking pollution seriously, Britain's equestrian team wanted to take oxygen masks for their horses. Some athletes in Beijing were taking the muggy conditions in their stride. "We'd been told it was absolutely terrible so we were prepared for much worse," said Renata Ribeiro, a Brazilian beach volleyball player. "It's actually not that heavy today." (Additional reporting by Lindsay Beck, Jim Bai and Gillian Murdoch; Editing by Nick Macfie)
A girl from the Muslim Uighur ethnic minority group plays in a court yard inside the Kashgar Idgah mosque, the biggest one in Xinjiang province, during an early afternoon prayer session ...
