Many athletes are facing the prospect of spending an extended period in hotels as they await word on whether the Village will be sufficiently improved to satisfy the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
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The rest of the village, she said, “is one of the best” she had seen.
Russia, whose participation had been uncertain following revelations of state-run doping, hailed a decision by the International Olympic Committee to not impose a blanket ban on all its sportsmen and women. “We’re on tour about four and a half months a year, so for us I think it’s more just the hockey preparation”, he said.
“We have had a focus on building strong relationships and we had decided to make sure we were first into the village as part of our Games strategy”, he says. “We’ve got lighting problems in some of the stairwells”.
With less than two weeks to go until the Games begin, the Australians aren’t the only ones having problems.
We are not alone, our friends from Team GB, New Zealand and others are experiencing the same problems in their accommodation.
The Australian Olympic Committee is refusing to check in its athletes, complaining about the gas, electricity and plumbing.
“There is much work to be done at the Village and we appreciate the efforts of the IOC and the RIO Organising Committee to “push things along” and solve the problems”.
Chef de mission Rob Waddell said: “There was more work than we anticipated”.
“Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments and there was “shorting” in the electrical wiring”. “I’m nearly putting a kangaroo out front to jump for them”, he said.
The compound contains tennis courts, soccer fields, seven swimming pools – with mountains and the sea as a backdrop – topped off by a massive dining-kitchen compound that’s as large as three football fields.
The apartments are to be sold after the Olympics with some prices reaching $700,000.
“Just to walk around the village and know that you are in the company of the best athletes in the world is going to be incredible – I can’t wait to experience that”, she says. The development cost about $1.5 billion, built by Brazilian billionaire Carlos Carvalho. Our team has had to get stuck in to get the job done.
Others complained that the water coming from the taps was not drinkable, while one German photographer even said his hotel still had stray dogs and construction workers wandering in and out of rooms.
Meanwhile, Australia’s nearest neighbours, New Zealand, said they would be welcoming the first of their athletes into the village on Sunday.
“All is good, few finishing touches still to be made but when you arrive at 5am on opening day you can’t expect it to be flawless”, Drysdale said.
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Italy’s team leader Carlo Mornati said on Sunday some parts of the village were not ready to host athletes when it opened for business on Sunday.
