04/18/24
July 30, 2015
There's something in the Olympic water in Rio...and it's not good.:
Athletes competing in next year's Summer Olympics here will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games
Brazilians officials have assured that the water will be safe for the Olympic athletes. But the government does not test for viruses.
Hey, we're all friends here, right? What's a little poliovirus between friends?
AP tests found its waters to be among the most polluted for Olympic sites, with results ranging from 14 million adenoviruses per liter on the low end to 1.7 billion per liter at the high end. By comparison, water quality experts who monitor beaches in Southern California become alarmed if they see viral counts reaching 1,000 per liter.
Holy Shitsnacks.
posted by Ufez Jones at 02:59 PM on July 30, 2015
Do IOC members get a special feces-free swim lane?
posted by yerfatma at 03:10 PM on July 30, 2015
Do IOC members get a special feces-free swim lane?
The maintenance crew at the Four Seasons assures me that yes, they will ensure that the pool will be kept clean. And the massage therapists will get their nails none. And the hookers will be de-loused.
posted by tahoemoj at 04:01 PM on July 30, 2015
Next year's Olympics will be pretty interesting with contaminated water to swim in and security issues. I hope there are no major problems.
posted by JohnSoCal at 04:37 PM on July 30, 2015
I've been worried that some kayaker will run his boat smack into a large floating hunk of hardened bikini wax during a preliminary heat.
Meanwhile, for visionaries like the Wizard of Redmond:
Thar's Gold In Them Thar Filth
(and maybe bronze and silver too)
posted by beaverboard at 09:24 PM on July 30, 2015
What a shitty situation...
posted by MeatSaber at 09:35 AM on July 31, 2015
This is horrendous. But while watching the World Cup last year and seeing the constant shots of enormous crowds on the beach, I don't recall being told that they were frolicking in sewage.
The Olympics isn't as much fun as it was in my childhood. Grafters are really good at getting their hooks into international sporting events and making them a license to drain as much public money out of a site as possible.
I wish I could believe the promises that an Olympics or World Cup will leave a country better off, with meaningful and lasting improvements to public facilities and infrastructure. How many places can even muster an argument that it was true for them, five or 10 years later?
posted by rcade at 11:16 AM on July 31, 2015
Only two places competed for the 2022 winter games, and it seems like the IOC was lucky to have that many interested parties.
May soon come a time when the IOC will be begging prospective host cities to bid for the games.
posted by beaverboard at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2015
Barcelona seems to have done quite well for themselves after hosting the Olympics.
posted by grum@work at 11:59 AM on July 31, 2015
Atlanta hasn't burned down since 1996, but I'm not sure that's an endorsement for bringing the IOC to town.
posted by yerfatma at 03:22 PM on July 31, 2015
Saw a news special on the water last night, by the pictures alone I wouldn't go near that water for any gold medal or any other reason.