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Rio Officials Lose Keys to Olympic Stadium as Games Start

But losing the keys to a stadium is on a level all by itself.

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Seemingly unable to open the gates any other way, three men – described as firemen – take hold of a pair of bolt cutters and snap a padlock, holding the steel gates in place, in two.

Rio officials have been left with egg on their face after the shocking revelation that the Brazilian city had just one key to unlock the Maracana Olympic Stadium there – and it was lost.

The incident, coming just two days before the opening ceremony, will embarrass Olympic organisers at a time of great scrutiny.

The problems Rio organizers have run into before the Opening Ceremony have ranged from disturbing to outrageous.

This hasn’t been the only technical issue to plague the Olympics before the official game period officially begins. Upon arriving to the Maracanã stadium’s eastern gate, Olympic staffers realized they were missing keys to one of the gates.

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Mind you, once the gates were open there was hardly a rush of spectators desperate to get into the stadium. That’s amid media reports that 1.3 million tickets remain unsold for the games, though 500,000 of those are for football games that are being staged well outside Rio.

Rio Olympics 2016 Opening Ceremony Live Streaming