Problems galore for Olympic athletes at Rio de Janeiro

The latest in the organisational problems for the Rio Games was the collapse of the main ramp of Marina da Gloria, the sailing venue of the Olympics. Although no one was injured, the collapse of the ramp, which is the main access point for boats to reach the water, shows the sheer lack of preparation of the Olympic Games with the competitions scheduled to start on August 5.

However, the quality of construction of the venues will not be the biggest problem for the athletes in Rio. A report commissioned by Associated Press has revealed that the host city’s Olympic and Paralympic venues have dangerous levels of viruses. The sailors, rowers, and open water swimmers will be in the biggest danger in this scenario with only three teaspoons of water needed to be infected with a virus. The message from Dr. Valerie Harwood, Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of South Florida, to the athletes and travellers to Rio is, "Don't put your head under water."

Many reports have confirmed that the Olympians will be ‘literally swimming in human crap’, come August 5. "Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms," said Dr. Daniel Becker, a local paediatrician in Rio de Janeiro. "It’s sad but also worrisome."

Even if the Olympians escape the threat from the water, it is highly likely that the athletes would not have a good sleep at the Olympic village. Greek athletes and officials, who arrived at Rio for the Games, had the shock of their life when they saw their rooms filled with water. “Outside it is like a jewel, but inside it is like a building site. The plumbing is out of order, water runs everywhere, there are no mirrors in the bathrooms... Consider that we had to move to another floor because ours flooded,” said Isidoros Kouvelos, head of the Hellenic Olympic Academy.

The Greeks are not the only ones ; the Australians have complained about a robbery in their rooms, while the Indian hockey teams have raised their voice about the unfurnished apartments and lack of TVs and chairs in the rooms. Others have complained about gas and water leaks, blocked toilets and exposed wiring in rooms. If these were not enough, two incidents of fire have been reported from the village in the past one week.

Security of the athletes and travellers will be another concern during the Olympics with the organisers failing to find security guards. Only 500 out of the 3000 security screen guards have been filled and the company responsible for it has been fired six days before the start of the Games. Reports of theft have been pouring from the host city, and with the general public and public servants also angry about the Olympic spending, Rio 2016 could turn out to be a disastrous event.

Source: sportscafe.in