The Olympics Opening Ceremony is finally less than a fortnight away. Depending on who you ask, that could be a good thing or a bad thing: good, because nothing has managed to derail Rio 2016 from actually happening. Bad, because… nothing has managed to derail Rio 2016 from actually happening.
After concerns over the rising risk of Zika, hella grotty bacteria festering in the city’s water, and a looming financial shitstorm, the latest tick against the Games is the current condition of the Athlete’s Village.
Australian athletes and staff who traveled to Brazil early to train have been forced to find temporary hotel rooms due to the Village’s present condition. According to one Australian Olympic Committee spokesperson, “you wouldn’t put people in [the rooms] yet.”
via Buda Mendes / Getty.
Kitty Chiller, the Australian squad’s chef de mission, told The Australian “we have had a meeting at 8.30 every night to discuss the ongoing challenges but today it has reached what the Rio 2016 organisers have described as a crisis point.’’
The problems mainly involve plumbing: backed up toilets, leaking pipes and flooding have been noted in the massive development. Other safety problems, like unlit stairwells, also played into the decision to find alternative digs.
via Buda Mendes / Getty.
In response to the looming deadline and the International Olympic Committee’s urging that Rio organisers get it together pronto, squads of maintenance and cleaning staff have been employed to fix the joint up before more teams arrive.
Some of our neighbours across the ditch have already made their way to Rio. Kiwi rower Rob Waddell said they’re “shifting into buildings where they are still working through some of the minor things,” which spurred the squad to “just knuckle down and help out with some of these things.”
Hopefully the organisers are treating this whole deal like a cycling keirin – slow and laborious for the longest time, before a gut-busting sprint to completion – and we can eventually treat our cynicism with the same wistful nostalgia we usually reserve for Nikki Webster.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald / The Australian.
Photo: Buda Mendes / Getty.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald / The Australian.
Photo: Buda Mendes / Getty.
