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Rio Olympic Village Not Ready as Athletes Start Arriving

“This is something we have noticed when we had our challenges: the passion and the commitment of your people to help us out”, she said.

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“We chose to do a “stress test” where taps and toilets were simultaneously turned on in apartments on several floors to see if the system could cope once the athletes are in-house”, Kitty Chiller, the Australian Olympic Committee’s chef de mission, said in a statement published in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes has taken a big hop backward in what was interpreted as his jibe over sending kangaroos to an Australian team upset about their unprepared Olympic accommodations.

Australia’s athletes refused to move into the village on Sunday.

In an open letter to the WHO in May of this year, around 150 scientists called for the Olympics to be postponed or moved to another location because they argued it posed a risk to public health.

The Dutch team, which is housed in the building where an electrical fire happened, said the conditions are a disappointment, and that it affects all participating countries.

Some delegation members have moved in, and Olympic officials said the problems are expected to be fixed “within a few days”, the Times said.

The Rio 2016 organizing committee told AFP that the appropriate documents would be handed over on Wednesday. And with the Russian Olympic Team now being systemically decimated by a series of doping disqualifications, the spots they subsequently leave behind are opening the doors for extra athletes from other countries to take part in the Rio Olympics.

Rio de Janeiro, July 26: Blocked toilets, unsafe wiring and other problems in Rio’s Olympic Village will be resolved by the end of the week, Brazilian organisers said as new reports of glitches emerged.

At the moment, looking at how things are in Rio, things are on par with the low standards set by the Athletes Village in Delhi ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Perhaps Olympic organizers will consider renting out rooms in the athletes’ village, as there will be more cancellations and vacancies than usual.

Australian Shelley Watts, competing in the 60-kg female boxing category, said she had been impressed by the official accommodation when she arrived on Monday.

“The commitment I have, the love that I have for the game, for my national team, for the Olympic experience and trying to win another Olympic medal for my country – knowing that I don’t have many opportunities left at this point in my career – all of those were factors for me to decide to play”, Gasol said.

“Fans will be able to follow sports, athletes and the stories behind the Olympic Games”.

The Olympic Village’s teething problems are another embarrassment for Brazil, who is struggling to show they can cope with the pressure during a severe recession and political crisis.

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Rio police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Rio Olympic Village Not Ready as Athletes Start Arriving