Well, that wasn’t one of the more noble moments in U.S. Olympic Committee history.

The men who lead the Olympic movement in the land of the free and the home of the brave … turned against four American cyclists who had the temerity to wear masks in the Beijing airport on Tuesday.

It seemed a blatant and naked attempt to curry favor from the Chinese hosts, who have failed to clean up the famously filthy air in Beijing, just days ahead of Friday’s Opening Ceremonies.

Instead of suggesting American athletes have the right to prepare as they see fit …  USOC honchos suggested the four cyclists were rude visitors, and chief executive officer Jim Scherr said the four had “written an apology” to the Beijing organizing committee.

Hey, thanks for sticking up for your athletes.

The mini-tempest began Tuesday, when four track cyclists, including medal-favorite Sarah Hammer of Temecula, Calif., wore masks in the airport.

Beijing’s air is notoriously dirty; nothing else made a greater impression on me in my first 24 hours in town than the grimy pall that hangs over this city.

But Scherr made a point of criticizing the cyclists.

“Those athletes regret that action and have written an apology to BOCOG,” Scherr said in a press conference today, referring to the acronym of the Beijing organizing committee. “They all now realize the embarrassment” they caused organizers.

Scherr also attempted to distance the USOC from the masks the cyclists wore,  saying they came not from the USOC but from the cycling federation.

Peter Ueberroth, USOC chairman of the board, talked as if the cyclists were rogue elements in the Olympic movement. “You never want to go to someone else’s place and cause some embarrassment,” he said.

Scherr said the cyclists weren’t pressured into their “written apology” (the text of which has not yet been made public). “They came forward of their own volition,” he said.

Scherr conceded the USOC provided about 200 air-filtering masks to various federations under its aegis but said the federations decided whether their athletes should wear them.

Ueberroth and Scherr stopped short of saying the USOC would forbid U.S. athletes from wearing masks in public again. “It’s their right to do so,” Ueberroth said. Said Scherr: “We wouldn’t forbid it, of course.”

But Scherr made clear where the USOC stands: Against embarrassing the hosts; for throwing its athletes under the bus.

“It wasn’t their best judgment,” he said of the cycling four. “We hope this will be the last incident of this type.”

Earlier today, the U.S. archery team loved-loved-loved the air quality. Clearly the message is out: Criticize the hosts (or even their air) and expect a USOC spanking.

Meanwhile, on a couple of other big topics, the USOC guys retreated into the “this is sports, not politics” prevent defense.

The Chinese visa for Joey Cheek, an Olympic medal-winning speed skater from the U.S., was revoked today. Cheek is an activist on the topic of genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan, a country whose ruling regime has been supported internationally by China.

Cheek might well have talked about the China-Darfur connection, had he gotten into the country, and the Chinese are doing their best to head off negative stories before they happen.

Scherr described the Cheek situation as one involving the Chinese government and “a private citizen.” He described it as “unfortunate.”

Ueberroth and Scherr said China’s policies have nothing to do with the Olympics. Even as Ueberroth conceded the Beijing Olympics have two story lines — one on the host country’s spotty human rights record, the other about the competition.

Ueberroth seemed to blame news media for worrying too much about topics such as genocide.

“We accepted an invitation and we have the ability not to go,” Ueberroth said. “We accepted it. We studied it. We worked with people in this country who are responsible for the Games and for the team. And so there are two story lines and the first one is not very much fun to write about, and editors aren’t going to give a lot of play to that. How much can you talk about architecture and facilities? How much can you talk about this press center? So, it’s obvious to go the other way.

“But the one thing we look at from an international relations point of view is history. The Olympic Games opens countries up. It doesn’t close countries. So if there is any issue out there — and China is an enormous player on the world scene now — any issue that’s out there, this country will be better for it and we want to try and focus … and how do we deal with it? We deal with the fact that we just want our athletes to come here clean and also be good sportswomen and sportsmen, try very hard, do the best they can. So we’re kind of disciplined on that. We’re nobody’s State department. We’re not anybody trying to change the world. We’re not anybody taking advantage of a sporting event. I think that as soon as the Games get started the world will focus on this wonderful, marvelous thing. There’s nothing else in the world where people can come together like this. And then nobody writes about it …

“The word ‘peace.’ … We can work more toward world peace (and) it will be wrapped somehow in the Olympic flag.”

Said Scherr: “I think Peter said that really well. We bring a team here to compete in the Olympic Games.  And the purpose of this competition not only is to entertain the world but to inspire the world, not only with their excellence on the field of play, but how athletes live and participate in the Olympics Village in the spirit of friendship and understanding of all nations. And that’s why we all work in this movement, because we believe in that ideal and what the Olympics movement stands for.  … This is not a political movement. We’re  not here as politicians. We’re here as spokesmen, and the athletes make that statement for world peace and perhaps serve as an inspiration on the field of play …

“We would hope our athletes would take a personal platform that they build through the Games and their own efforts and make a meaningful change beyond the Games, as did Joey Cheek. However they’re here to compete, we want to help them compete in the spirit of the Olympic ideals. And they’re not here as politicians.”