Quote:From the Zika outbreak to severe water pollution, from behind-schedule venues to delayed metro lines, from sluggish ticket sales to cuts in services, from Brazil’s deep financial crisis to impeachment proceedings against its president, the buildup to South America’s first Games faces a long list of concerns.

[...]

Rio is preparing for the Games at a time when Brazil is mired in its worst recession since the 1930s, President Dilma Rousseff is fighting impeachment and the country is dealing with a vast corruption scandal centered on state-controlled oil-and-gas giant Petrobras.

[...]

Other issues facing Rio:

* Delays to the main swimming venue could force a test event scheduled for April 15-20 to be moved to the nearby diving arena.

* Rio’s drug-testing laboratory has until March 18 to meet World Anti-Doping Agency’s guidelines. If it fails, the lab would be declared non-compliant, meaning thousands of doping samples during the Games would have to be sent out of Brazil for testing, raising major logistical and financial challenges.

* Athletes remain concerned about pollution in the waterways that will host Olympic competitions. On Saturday, activists staged a symbolic burial of the Guanabara Bay, the sewage-filled waters where sailing will be held. Last week, the local O Globo daily ran a photo of what appeared to be a severed arm floating in the bay.

* Ticket sales have been disappointing, with only about half of the 4.5 million domestic tickets sold as of early this year.

(03-03-2016 10:24 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  being discussed.

(03-03-2016 02:21 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  They should have been planning for both by building more than one applicable facility for both events in Rio. Maybe they did and I don't know but yes their World Cup prep left much to be desired and this will leave more.

(05-03-2016 02:21 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/03/sport/rio-olympics-torch-arrival/

The torch has arrived in Brasil.

(05-05-2016 02:00 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  Rio sucks beyond the scenery. I'm also okay with someone enjoying the beach, though I've heard rumors of fecal matter in the water being an issue.

Quote:In 75% of the samples taken at the Olympic lake, the number of fecal coliforms exceeded Brazil’s legal limit for “secondary contact,” such as boating or rowing – in two samples spiking to over 10 times the accepted level. The Marina da Gloria venue exceeded the limit only once, while at Rio’s most popular tourist beach, Ipanema, fecal coliforms tested at three times the acceptable level in a single sample.