The 2016 Rio Games ‘ Olympic village has already been slammed for its sub-standard facilities, but now athletes have an extra complaint.
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There is little chance the TCU report will result in any punishment for organizers as most of the spending for the games, which run from August 5 through August 21, was channeled through Rio de Janeiro’s state and municipal governments.
“Having to wait for the WNBA to shut down its season for the Olympics, the USA women now have only eight practices and four warm-up games together to build teamwork before they begin Olympic competition on August 6”.
The Central Bank added that foreign tourists spent 3.15 billion dollars in Brazil in the first half of 2016, 210 million dollars more than that in the same period of past year.
Olympic organizers have promised to resolve problems by Thursday, but some of the teams who are already in Rio aren’t buying it. Australia has made a decision to relocate its athletes, at least temporarily, and the Dutch and Italian teams have complained about the facilities, which are reported to have broken elevators, mold, and even holes in the ceilings. USA cyclist Tejay van Garderen withdrew from Olympic consideration because of the potential effects Zika infection could have on his pregnant wife. Gonsalves pointed out that it’s now winter in Rio, which means mosquito activity will likely be low. In fact, an estimated 80 percent of people who come down with Zika don’t know they’ve been infected, according to health experts. Another 30 percent are from Latin American countries where the illness is already widespread, so researchers theorized that those returning from Rio wouldn’t play an important role is spreading the virus.
“I ask the athletes maximum cooperation and understanding”, said former Olympic medalist Carlo Mornati, vice-secretary of the committee.
“There remains much for the Rio organising committee to do so that the living conditions meet sanitary requirements”, the country’s Olympic committee told The Associated Press. Six hundred of those guests are athletes, representing 120 countries.
What it seems like, to me, is that the media is yet again working really hard to smear the host city, the International Olympic Committee and the Olympics as an institution as part of the hype leading into the Games.
The findings are published online in journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
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The Zika virus is widespread in South and Central America and a few dozen US territories.
