The Rio Olympics

They've got off to a good start....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/36879349

Rio Olympics 2016: Australia refuse to move into athletes' village



Australia are refusing to move their athletes into the Rio Olympic Village because of concerns about the state of their accommodation.

Problems include "blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring", according to team boss Kitty Chiller.

Chiller said she had raised concerns with local event organisers and the International Olympic Committee, and was "pushing hard for a solution".

Australian staff are in nearby hotels with the first athletes due on Monday.

Alternative accommodation for team members arriving over the next three days has been arranged.

Chiller, the head of Australia's Olympic delegation, said extra maintenance staff and more than 1,000 cleaners have been engaged to fix the problems but the faults, particularly the plumbing issues, have not been resolved.

She said in a statement on the Australian Olympic website: "Due to a variety of problems in the Village, including gas, electricity and plumbing, I have decided that no Australian team member will move into our allocated building.

"Problems include blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring, darkened stairwells where no lighting has been installed and dirty floors in need of a massive clean."

The 31-building village will house 18,000 athletes and officials at the height of the Games, which start on 5 August.

Camila MattosoVerified account
‏@mattoso_camila
"Estou quase botando um canguru na frente do prédio deles [Austrália] para ficar pulando e eles se sentirem em casa", disse @eduardopaes_

Andrew Downie ‏@adowniebrazil 4h4 hours ago
Andrew Downie Retweeted Camila Mattoso
"I almost feel like putting a kangaroo in front of their building to make them feel at home," says Rio mayor.

At least 105 Russian athletes banned so far

MOSCOW (AP) — At least 105 athletes from the 387-strong Russian Olympic team announced last week have been barred from the Rio Games in connection with the country's doping scandal. International federations in canoeing, sailing and modern pentathlon ruled out eight on Tuesday, including an Olympic gold medalist. Rowing added 19 more athletes to three that had previously been announced. Swimming has also barred some athletes. Some appeals are likely.

http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/4503122-105-russian-athletes-banned.html#.1258-stage-hero1-3

I should think the rowers in particular may regard this as a blessing in disguise, LL.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/rio-olympics-polluted-waters-athletes-voice-health-concerns/58412235

Olympic athletes competing in Rio's polluted waters are fearful that performing on the biggest stage of their careers will affect their health.
"[The water quality] is a real concern. We're going to have to be very disciplined about how we're taking care of ourselves," Meghan O'Leary, U.S. Rowing competitor told The Courant.
An eight-month study conducted by the Associated Press concluded that none of Rio's water venues were safe for swimming or boating.
The study found over a billion viruses from human sewage in a single liter of water from the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake. The water measured 1.7 million times the level of what would be considered hazardous on a Southern California beach.
Just this Wednesday, human body parts washed up from the waters onto a Copacabana shore, only steps from an Olympic beach volleyball venue.

Oh what a lovely place to be hosting the Olympics.

+16
Competitors have been told to keep their mouths shut because of increased pollution in Guanabara Bay, which is the site of the windsurfing and sailing events


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-3711766/Rio-Olympics-competitors-warned-mouths-shut-pollution-water.html#ixzz4FgeyHxm4
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Who could resist? And what's a floating corpse or two? Nothing to worry about!

Everyone should pull their athletes out at once. Who can stand for this?

https://youtu.be/Vvk5hPtmYbk

What more can they say?

Rio 2016: IOC to have final say on Russia competitors
Three-person panel will make the final ruling on which athletes can compete at the Rio Games, IOC says.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/rio-2016-ioc-final-russia-competitors-160731053906349.html

Spotted this elsewhere....

Same old, same old? LL

80 years since the Olympics gave Hitler a propaganda coup
Published: 02 Aug 2016 15:14 GMT+02:00
Eighty years ago this week Hitler opened the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The Nazis used the occasion to portray themselves as a tolerant, modern nation.
http://www.thelocal.de/20160802/80-years-since-propaganda-triumph-at-nazi-olympics

And it has come around full circle to some events about to take place in pools of sh*t, dead bodies etc.

Not one of the Olympic movement's best moments....

Bonny, I honestly do not know why they are allowing these Games to go ahead in Rio. I wonder why the electing body allowed this?

The usual way? Brown envelopes?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/rio-2016-cheap-flights-should-i-still-go-olympics-last-minute-how-to-buy-tickets-brazil-a7168371.html

For companies hoping to make a fortune from sports fans attending the Rio Olympics, expectation is turning to desperation.

As the clock counts down to the opening ceremony in the Maracana Stadium on Friday night, last-minute travellers to the Games can pick up some remarkable bargains – to the fury of sports fans who paid a fortune months or years ago to attend Rio 2016 and now find they wasted thousands of pounds.

Each Olympiad for several decades has followed the same pattern in terms of pricing for flights and accommodation. Airlines and hoteliers set their prices astronomically high. They find some takers who mistakenly believe that seats and beds will be in short supply. Anyone who waits patiently until a few weeks or days before the Games can be confident of snapping up plane tickets and hotel rooms for the same, or less than the usual price in a non-Olympic year......etc.

Many hostels are selling beds in dorms for around the £20 mark.

Who in their right minds would stay in a shared, cut-price dorm in Rio?

Who in their right mind would bother going? It would be far more sensible and better for everyone's health to watch it on TV.

I'm sorry for the athletes, Lily. I just hope the organisers manage to pull their fingers out in the remaining, what, 72 hours, get everything working and somehow clean the assorted messes up.

Somehow I don't think that's possible - especially the sh*t containing water in which some athletes will have to compete. They were told to keep their mouths shut........

lily wrote:Somehow I don't think that's possible - especially the sh*t containing water in which some athletes will have to compete.  They were told to keep their mouths shut........  

And their eyes and wear skull caps to cover their ears. LL

YUK!! I mean really, are they trying to make everyone really ill?