Despite a growing number of international concerns tied to the Rio Games, Brazil’s new sports minister Leonardo Picciani said that he "is confident the Games themselves will be 'successful,'" according to Nicole Auerbach of USA TODAY. Picciani: "Brazil is completely ready for the Games. ... All the issues are gone and all the venues are fantastic." Picciani was "appointed to this position on May 12, less than 90 days before the Olympics." Despite taking over as the minister of sport so close to the Games, Picciani said that he has "faced few challenges because almost all of the event venues were already completely built and ready for competition by the time he stepped in." He said that only the velodrome "is not finished yet, though he estimated that it is currently 92% complete." Picciani also "downplayed worldwide concerns about Zika." Picciani said that Brazil "hosted 43 test events" from June '15 to April '16, which "included 7,000 athletes and there were zero reported cases of Zika." Other topics Picciani addressed included the subway extension from Barra, where the Olympic Park is located, to Copacabana "is expected to be completed on Aug. 1, four days before the start of the Olympics." Picciani "downplayed safety and testing concerns that accompany such a short window of time." Picciani said that the pollution in the waters of Guanabara Bay, where sailing will be held, "is not located near and is 'no problem' for other open-water events, which include marathon swimming, rowing, sprint canoeing and kayaking." Picciani: "They are completely safe" (USA TODAY, 6/13).
WHAT LEGACY? REUTERS' Brad Brooks noted scientists have "found dangerous drug-resistant 'super bacteria' off beaches" in Rio that will "host Olympic swimming events and in a lagoon where rowing and canoe athletes will compete." Cleaning the city's waterways was "meant to be one of the Games' greatest legacies and a high-profile promise" in the official '09 bid document Rio "used to win the right to host South America's first Olympics." ROCOG "referred questions on water quality to state authorities" (REUTERS, 6/11).
