The decision not to move into the facilities was made on Saturday night when the Australian officials ran a “stress test” where water faucets and toilets were turned on simultaneously in the facility to see if the system could handle the presence of normal occupancy during the athlete’s stay.
Advertisement
Australia’s delegation highlighted the poor state of the Village, 31-building complex located in the Barra da Tijuca district in the west of Rio de Janeiro created to house more than 18,000 athletes and coaching staff over the coming weeks.
In a statement, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and Rio 2016 said the issues were being addressed but the village was still several days away from being completed.
In Building 23, the Australians noticed electrical shorting and a strong smell of gas in some apartments.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes shot back at Australia’s criticism, saying the Village is “more beautiful” than Sydney for the 2000 Games and that he was about to put “a kangaroo jumping outside” to “make them feel at home”, the BBC reported.
She said teams from Britain and New Zealand had similar problems. Organisers have conceded there have been “teething troubles” and promised that crews would be “working 24 hours a day until the issues are resolved”. “I have never experienced – this is my fifth Olympic Games – a village in this state or lack of state of readiness at this point in time”, she added.
Another boxer, the USA’s reigning Olympic and world middleweight champion Claressa Shields, wrote on her Facebook page: “I’m here to tell you, me and the Team USA boxing team have been here 5 days with 0 problems!”, adding that “Rio is a handsome place!” The Italian contingent has drafted local plumbers, masons and electricians to deal with the problems they’ve encountered, according to newspaper O Globo.
Not to be outdone by the Canadians, members of the Dutch women’s hockey team got in amongst the Rio 2016 lettering for a team photo ahead of their title defence.
Problems included significant safety issues along with plumbing and electrical problems.
Chiller would not say who would ultimately foot the bill for the unplanned expenditures, as her focus remains on the 410 athletes that are trickling into Rio de Janeiro.
Canada will send 313 athletes to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics determined to improve on the one gold medal won at the London Summer Games. It said many team members would be preparing in a training camp in the city of Belo Horizonte and would not immediately need the village.
“We will be working hard to ensure that the ongoing works do not disturb their preparations for the Games”, said a statement from organizers.
Advertisement
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said on Sunday evening that the village was uninhabitable.
