Australian Olympic Committee Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller is "keeping the delegation's 700 athletes or staff out of the Athletes Village for at least two days, citing electrical and plumbing problems," according to Stephen Wade of the AP. Chiller, who is at her fifth Olympics, said, "Electricity and water is not a good combination. ... I have never experienced a village in this state -- or lack of state -- of readiness at this point in time." Chiller described a "wide array of plumbing, electrical and cleaning issues." AOC Dir of Media & Communications Mike Tancred said that 10 of the 31 buildings were "determined to be inhabitable." But Chiller also said, "This is one of the most beautiful villages I've ever been in. It looks spectacular. There are just teething issues in some of the service inside the building." Wade noted the IOC and local organizers held emergency talks yesterday and said athletes with unfinished rooms would "be placed in the best available accommodation in other buildings," estimating that fixing the problems "will take another few days" (AP, 7/24). Meanwhile, in Sydney, Baum & Cherny note in a "small off-set, the AOC generally is satisfied with what it has seen so far of the level of security at the athletes village and in Rio generally" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 7/25).
DELAY OF GAMES: YAHOO SPORTS' Yann Bernal notes even Brazilian athletes "who were meant to have started taking up lodgings in the brand-new complex" yesterday were "being kept in hotels instead." Britain's delegation also said it had encountered some "maintenance difficulties." However, it added that it "was staying in the Village as planned." But Bernal wrote the "lack of preparedness in the Olympic Village was another embarrassing blow for host Brazil" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/25). In N.Y., Michael Schmidt notes Sweden's women's soccer team also has "refused to move into its apartments because of similar problems." The U.S., Italy and the Netherlands reportedly has "paid to hire workers to finish their rooms." IOC officials said that they "expected the issues to be resolved within a few days." ROCOG President Carlos Nuzman said, "Every Olympic village, because of their magnitude, needs some adjustments until it becomes perfect" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/25).
