“Due to a variety of problems in the Village, including gas, electricity and plumbing I have decided that no Australian Team member will move into our allocated building”, Australia’s Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller said.
Advertisement
While previous complaints about the accommodation for competitors focused on leaking pipes, blocked toilets and exposed wiring, the latest objections have been raised by Pokémon Go players.
450,000 condoms are to be distributed among the athletes as the village starts welcoming the Olympians this Sunday, a move that has been met with unwarranted surprise by global sports observers.
Chiller said yesterday that her initial statement was not meant to knock Rio 2016 or the city of Rio de Janeiro, just to bring awareness to the situation.
“We are reasonably confident we will be able to enter the village on Wednesday”.
The head of Australia’s delegation Killy Chiller said the team complained publicly after working behind the scenes with teams that also had problems.
Dozens of other delegations also flagged up problems about their rooms, with many calling in their own workmen to fix the problems. In May, risk agency Moody’s released a report which said that one of the most apparent benefits of hosting the Games would be the infrastructure improvements made in the city.
On Wednesday, Brazilian labor inspectors said they would fine the Rio organizing committee almost $100,000 (about 315,000 reals) for hiring workers without proper contracts required by law.
The group has spent the past 10 days in Miami where they were training three times a day.
Paes’ speech was a far cry from his apparently combative reaction Sunday after Chiller publicly lambasted the accommodations as the worst she’d seen in a career spanning five Olympics.
Mike Tancred, media director for the Australian Olympics team, said the statues had nothing to do with the housing controversy.
In response, the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, responded: “I nearly feel like putting a kangaroo to jump up and down in front of their building”. “I still say that it will be the best village that I have ever been in once these issues are complete”. “We’ll work out who pays the bill later on”.
Advertisement
Trampolinist Rosie MacLennan, who won Canada’s only gold four years ago, is back to defend her Olympic title and will lead the team of 187 women and 126 men into the Rio Games opening ceremonies on August 5 after earlier being named the country’s flag bearer.
