Our synchronised swimmers are arriving tomorrow so I’m going to send them down to give them some hints, keep their mouth closed under water.
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The Rio Games have also been tinged by a Russian doping scandal with Cold War overtones, with Russian officials accusing the West of a political conspiracy to ban dozens of Russians from competition, including 67 track and field athletes.
Despite the problems, Chiller said the delegation felt safe in Rio.
“I had absolutely no expectation before coming here”, she said. “I feel a little bit bad because when you come here you learn for yourself”.
Rio state, which is responsible for about a quarter of the 40 billion reais ($12.2 billion) in Olympic costs, declared a fiscal emergency in June, receiving federal funds to cover public safety as it struggled to pay pensioners and civil servants.
Rio’s revitalised port is considered to be one of the main Olympic legacies and will attract thousands of tourists because of the big screens that have been installed there on which people will be able to watch various competitions and other types of entertainment associated with the 2016 Games.
At 85mm in diameter, Rio’s gold medals are the same size as those draped around necks in 2012, contain the same proportion of gold, copper and silver content – 1.34 per cent, 6.16 per cent and 92.5 per cent respectively – and actually weigh more at 500g compared to the 412g medals in London.
“We have a good level of confidence and ability and combined with that, a great attitude of being positive and backing ourselves”. It seems Solo is prepared.
“It’s just about being sensible – locking valuables away.as you would if you were overseas on holiday”. “That’s the scariest point to me”.
Last week, Solo shared a picture of the gear she plans to take with her to Rio, backing up this claim that she will be prepared.
Solo said she came to Brazil well prepared, especially against Zika. Is it the media driving this concern, or are images like Solo’s Zika-defense system helping add fuel to the Zika engine?
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“I don’t know why, but we like to sensationalise everything and scare people and then. when the games go on, everything goes on as planned, ends up being a attractive tournament”.
