RIO - 2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS ready or not, they are going to start!

In Athletes’ Housing at Rio Olympics: Blocked Toilets, Leaking Pipes and Exposed Wiring
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDTJULY 24, 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO — Adding to the list of setbacks and stumbles for the Rio Olympics, the athletes’ village, home to thousands of athletes during the Summer Games, has been called unfit for occupancy.

Sunday was supposed to be move-in day for many athletes, but the leader of the Australian Olympic delegation said its athletes would not be checking in because of problems with the gas, electricity and plumbing.
The opening ceremony for the Rio Games is scheduled for Aug. 5.
Among the issues with housing units at the village were “blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring,” said Kitty Chiller, the chef de mission in Rio de Janeiro for the Australian Olympic Committee. There was also bad lighting in many stairwells and “dirty floors in need of a massive clean,” she said in a written statement.

“Water has come through the ceiling resulting in large puddles on the floor around cabling and wiring,” Chiller said.

Chiller said that delegations from Britain, New Zealand and other countries were experiencing similar problems in the village, which is in an area of western Rio called Barra da Tijuca.
Sweden’s women’s soccer team also refused to move into its apartments because of similar problems, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported. The newspaper article said the United States, Italy and the Netherlands had paid to hire workers to finish their rooms.
Australian athletes have been staying at hotels as local organizers in Rio try to fix the problems, according to Australian officials.

Olympic officials said they expected the issues to be resolved within a few days. They said the village had officially opened Sunday morning and, as planned, a few hundred delegation members had moved in.

“There are some adjustments that we are dealing with and will be resolved in a short while,” said Carlos Nuzman, the president of the organizing committee. “Every Olympic village, because of their magnitude, needs some adjustments until it becomes perfect. The important thing is that everything will be resolved before the Games, without disturbing the athletes.”
Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the 2016 Summer Games seven years ago, when few obstacles were apparent. But the city and the organizers of the Games have encountered difficulties including political and economic turmoil; the spread of the Zika virus; pollution in bodies of water that are to be used in Olympic events; and the threat from terrorism.

Now officials are facing a situation similar to what unfolded at the last Winter Olympics, in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, when lodging was not ready for the start of the Games.

Australian officials discussed concerns with Olympic officials in Rio on a daily basis, they said, adding that they would reassess the situation on Sunday evening.

A spokesman for the British Olympic Committee said that it had been meeting daily with Rio officials “to find solutions to issues that have arisen in the village for the benefit of all delegations.”
“We are confident that our accommodation is ready to receive athletes and will be to the highest standards within the village,” the spokesman, Scott Field, said. “Whilst we have encountered some maintenance difficulties, this is not uncommon with new-build structures of this type, and we have been working to overcome them.”
The United States expects to have 500 athletes and staff members staying in the athletes’ village. “As is the case with every Games, we’re working with the local organizers to address minor issues and make sure the village is ready for Team U.S.A. athletes,” said Patrick Sandusky, a spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee.
A “stress test” that Australian officials conducted at the village on Saturday night led to the decision to not allow its athletes to move in. To test the facilities, the officials simultaneously turned on lights and flushed toilets in apartments on several floors.

“The system failed,” Chiller said. “Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments, and there was shorting in electrical wiring.”     
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/sports/olympics/rio-olympic-village-australia.html?_r=0

On PBS, radio station they were interviewing some of our USA staff assistants and coaches that travel over there and many teams have hired off sight contractors to come in and do 'electrical wiring inspections', due to serious fire & shock hazard concerns and the plumbing back is keeping many of the women's facilities from allowing many of the toilet tissues to be flushed 'unless it's been used for a bowel movement' {now isn't that just like rural America and our old out house ways}  

eddie wrote:You found it! I'm so glad.

Great thread

Rio Olympics: Athletes welcomed with condoms, air conditioning
By Shasta Darlington, CNN

Updated 4:32 PM ET, Mon July 25, 2016
With a record number of condoms allocated and air-conditioners in every bedroom, Rio's athletes village starts welcoming Olympians on Sunday.
The new apartment towers built to house 11,000 athletes and 6,000 coaches during Rio's Games are being called basic, even austere.

But when you step out on the balcony of one of the 3,604 apartments, the complex -- with its swimming pools, tennis courts and bike lanes -- looks downright five-star.
"The athletes are going to have everything they could possibly wish for during the Games," said Paul Ramler, founder of RSG events, which has been supplying furniture for athletes' villages since Sydney 2000.

The rooms are furnished with single beds and wardrobes made of recycled materials, as well as air-conditioning units to allay fears over the mosquito-borne Zika virus.
"I've never seen anything like this during all my years at the Games."
Local organizers describe the 31 17-story towers as a "city within a city" complete with a 24-hour cafeteria, beauty salon and florist.
The rooms themselves are furnished with the basics: metal beds, bedside tables and disposable wardrobes made with recycled fabric.
Ramler said the idea was to make the furniture sustainable but also inexpensive in keeping with Rio's bid to provide low-budget Games. The complex was built with private money and the developers are already looking for buyers post-Olympics.
The main entrance is heavily guarded and equipped with metal detectors.
Unlike in recent Games, there are no TVs in the apartments. Organizers did finally agree to install air conditioners in the bedrooms to allay fears over the mosquito-borne Zika virus, despite the expected cool temperatures during the games, which fall during Rio's winter. The opening ceremony is scheduled for August 5.
According to Ramler, the apartments are equipped with 13,000 toilet seats, 275,000 clothes hangers and 18,500 beds that can be extended in length for taller athletes.
The spartan bathrooms sport plastic shower curtains and a single oval mirror, but no drawers or cupboards to store the 450,000 condoms that will be distributed to athletes -- equivalent to 42 per person.
"I guess they're going stick those in the bedside tables," Ramler said.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/24/world/rio-olympics-athletes-village/index.html

The Organizer's fought for an Air Conditioner for every room but forego the TV  , what about the Internet access/wifi feed ...this is RIO's winter - why would they need the Air Conditioners?  How ODD!

eddie wrote:Do you need a hand?

No,   ...I get busy reading and wander off onto newer articles {my ADHD kicks in}.

BTW ...don't beat yourself up about all of this; I once was trying to relocate an entire science thread just for our resident Rock Hound and all of his specific cave dweller articles ...well in the midst of my setting those many {20+ images & articles} off onto my clipboard to get his 'OWN GENRE OPEN' I had a power outage and lost it all

Security issues at Olympic Games a reality: Theft, explosions and ISIS dirty bomb threats.

Security issues at the Rio 2016 Olympics have long been questioned and now it seems fear is not misplaced.             
 
News Archives - prophecyupdate.com
1 August 2016  1 August 2016              
Concerns that arose across the world over Brazil not being ready to host the Olympic Games in 2016 were consistently swept aside by the Rio Olympic officials. With the games just days way, it seems that those fears were not misplaced. Armed robberies, assault, and theft, have already visited themselves upon the competitors and a controlled explosion on a suspicious toolbox that appears not to have been very controlled has cranked up alarm levels.

The 'controlled explosion'.

Express UK carried a report that indicated there might have been a bomb concealed inside a toolbox at the Maracana stadium where rehearsals are going on for the opening ceremonies.  Although security has been beefed up around the Olympic Village and various stadiums, when a suspicious toolbox was found this Sunday it might indeed have contained explosives. A robot was sent in to investigate but as soon as it touched the box it exploded. There was nobody injured during the incident, but this is not the first time danger has posed a threat to competitors in the city of Rio. 
In June, the Washington Post reported that José Beltrame, the head of the State Security Police admitted that a lack of funding for the Police had caused some concern about their ability to secure the #Olympics. Nevertheless, he went on to assure them that resolutions to the problems would be found before the opening of the Games.

Armed robberies and theft.

This statement came after thugs robbed members of the Spanish team at gunpoint in May. More recently an Australian Paralympian, Liesl Tesch was pushed to the ground by a man wielding a gun. He stole her cycle and that of her companion, the team physiotherapist Sarah Ross. Tesch described the attack as "absolutely horrific."  
Kitty Chiller, the Australian chef de mission reported via the Express UK that the Olympic residence Village does not even have CCTV. The team was robbed of shirts and a laptop during a fire alert on Sunday. Chiller saw some people who appeared to be fire officers walking away with team tee-shirts. During the fire alert, everyone was evacuated from the buildings and it was during this period that the thefts took place.

ISIS dirt bomb threat 'credible'.

Apart from theft and armed robberies, larger fears are emerging. Reports via the Daily Mail UK indicate that there is real concern that an ISIS threat to blow up a "dirty bomb" at the Rio Olympics might be genuine. Luiz Alberto Sallaberry, the counter-#Terrorism director, believes it is a"credible threat." The United Nations have sent top-flight equipment to Rio to try and intercept terrorist communications. A dirty bomb is a standard explosive mixed with radioactive materials. According to the Sun, The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) has lent the Olympic Security Chiefs the best equipment available to scan for radioactive materials. The is small comfort to the competitors as a bomb of this kind would cause severe damage and render large areas unusable for years to come.
http://us.blastingnews.com/sports/2016/08/security-issues-at-olympic-games-a-reality-theft-explosions-and-isis-dirty-bomb-threats-001045501.html

veya_victaous wrote:No that is our REAL number of athletes robbed in the past week and an bit while in Rio..

most from
http://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/rio-olympics-2016-australian-athletes-robbed-during-fire-evacuation-at-olympic-village/news-story/79cbfd956fc44bdea5ee5b60fcd505a4

but we had another a gun point and a Kiwi has been robbed and some chinese
http://thebiglead.com/2016/07/30/chinese-athlete-robbed-by-fake-drunk-man-in-rio/

veya_victaous wrote:No that is our REAL number of athletes robbed in the past week and an bit while in Rio..

most from
http://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/rio-olympics-2016-australian-athletes-robbed-during-fire-evacuation-at-olympic-village/news-story/79cbfd956fc44bdea5ee5b60fcd505a4

but we had another a gun point and a Kiwi has been robbed and some chinese
http://thebiglead.com/2016/07/30/chinese-athlete-robbed-by-fake-drunk-man-in-rio/

Team Refugees                                          
Citius, Altius, Fortius: Faster, Higher, Stronger.
Perhaps no athletes marching in Rio's Olympic opening ceremonies embody the aspirations of the Olympic motto more than the men and women who make up the first Refugee Olympic Team. They have already been tested by daunting obstacles and have shown they have the character of champions.
With the Team Refugees project, NBC News and MSNBC tell the stories of 10 athletes who all have overcome hardship and suffering on their long journey to Rio. Their determination is not just to medal, but to show the world, as some of them have said, "We are human too."
They carry on their shoulders the dreams of the world's 20 million refugees.

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'Refugee Is Only a Name'

Five athletes who lived at the Kakuma refugee camp will compete at the Rio 2016 Olympics. These are their stories. (Portions of the footage in this video provided by FilmAid International.)
Aug 4 2016, 6:40 pm ET

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Key Stories 

Jiro Ose / Sports Illustrated/Getty Images
                                         
Underdog Olympians Aim to Prove 'Refugee Is Only a Name'
Perhaps no athletes marching in Rio's Olympic opening ceremonies embody the aspirations of the Olympic motto more than the men and women who make up the first Refugee Olympic Team. They have already been tested by daunting obstacles and have shown they have the character of champions.
With the Team Refugees project, NBC News and MSNBC tell the stories of 10 athletes who all have overcome hardship and suffering on their long journey to Rio. Their determination is not just to medal, but to show the world, as some of them have said, "We are human too."
They carry on their shoulders the dreams of the world's 20 million refugees.

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Team Refugees 

15 hours ago

Meet Syrian Refugee Who Swam for Her Life to Become an Olympian

Last year, Yusra Mardini swam for three hours to push a sinking refugee boat to shore, saving everyone on board. Now, she'll compete on the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/team-refugees