Rio de Janiero’s troubles seem to be just beginning after its water is to blame for getting Olympic athletes sick.
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At least 30 boats of all sizes paraded across Rio de Janeiro’s Guanabara Bay on Saturday to protest contamination in the waters where sailing events will be held during the 2016 Olympics.
And I guess that one way you could look at it is that 27 members of the U.S. Rowing Team didn’t get sick.
However, incidents in which dead fish have washed up in the lagoon – also the venue for Olympic canoeing events – have previously prompted questions over the safety of the water.
Flash forward to earlier this month, when the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) began collecting data on water pollution after the Associated Press deemed all water venues for the Games were unsafe for swimming.
Dr. Kathryn Ackerman, the team’s physician, said she believes the symptoms are consistent with coming into contact with the contaminated water, although she did not rule out food or drinking water as the source of the illness. The squad in Rio had a protocol in place that included washing every piece of equipment after it was used, he added.
“It would be easy but irresponsible for us to immediately assume that the rowing course is the main or sole point of exposure that caused the illnesses”, CEO of US Rowing Glenn Merry said.
“Second our female single sculler capsized on the course during her race on Friday”.
“I don’t think in this lake they’ll be throwing the coxswain into the water”, she said.
The only athlete who fell into the lagoon and consumed significant amounts of water was not one of those who was ill, Merry added.
There’s no conclusive way to tie the illnesses to the polluted waters, and no team suffered as much illness as the American side, although many other teams did report sicknesses, according to ESPN.
Back in July, the Associated Press reported the water quality at Rio’s water venue showed high levels of viruses and in some cases bacteria from human sewage.
We previously reported how grave concerns were being voiced even back in March of this year, as Rio’s Guanabara Bay specifically was visibly plagued by millions of dead fish, sewage and bacteria, despite Rio organizers having committed during their Games bid to reduce the pollution by 80 percent by January of this year.
“It’s not an issue for the Games, it’s not an issue for the sailors that will come to Rio, that’s a lie when people say that”.
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Only 49% of Rio’s homes are connected to sewage lines, and city and state governments have admitted they won’t meet cleanup targets ahead of the Games.
