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ROCOG Says Sabotage By Workers May Have Caused Athletes' Village Facility Problems

ROCOG on Thursday said that sabotage by unhappy workers "may have caused water and gas leaks, blocked toilets and electrical faults that slowed teams from moving into the athletes' village," according to Stephen Wade of the AP. All 31 buildings at the compound for 18,000 athletes and staff were "due to be ready at the end of Thursday, with the games opening in just over a week." ROCOG Exec Dir of Communications Mario Andrada said that about 400 of the 3,600 rooms in the complex "had defects" (AP, 7/28). In DC, Dom Phillips notes teams "have complained about conditions in many of their apartments." The Argentine committee said that two of the five floors of its building "were uninhabitable, and it had to rent apartments nearby for some of its technical staff." Belarus' Olympic committee "published photos of dirty windows and blocked drains on its official page." Egyptian athletes also "had no hot water and their toilets did not flush, while a Kenyan wrote 'Please fix my toilet' on a notice board in the Olympic Village" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/29). 

OTHER CONCERNS: Doctors from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services said that those traveling to Rio for the Olympics will be at "low risk of contracting the Zika virus, but the officials still advised pregnant women or women who could get pregnant not to attend the Games." U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dir of Global Migration & Quarantine Martin Cetron said that Brazil has seen a "significant reduction of Zika since the occurrences peaked in February and March." He added that cooler, dryer weather "has been a major factor," and car accidents and influenza "pose a greater threat to travelers in Rio than Zika" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/29). U.S. tennis player Jack Sock said of Zika, "They said it got blown way out of proportion. They said it wasn’t as big a deal as people were making it. ... I’m not really worried." In L.A., Lisa Dillman notes among the tennis players "using Zika as a reason -- or one of them -- for not going to Rio" include Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych and Simona Halep. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic  "admitted that he did engage in additional fact-finding about the disease." He said, "From the information and facts that I got, it's not as it's presented, it's not as dangerous. Of course there is always a possibility that you can get that virus, but I think, you know, maybe the fuss and the buzz about that virus has been created with some kind of other intent" (L.A. TIMES, 7/29).

CROSSTOWN TRAFFIC: CNN’s Shasta Darlington said of the transportation in Rio, "They still have to prove that the transportation system that they have lined up to get these people from one venue to another to their hotels, and these are 20, 30 miles apart, they still have to prove that that's going to work. I think that could be the really weak link" (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 7/28). The WASHINGTON POST's Phillips writes these "may become known as the Congestion Games" if a "crucial new metro line connecting Barra to popular tourist neighborhoods like Ipanema and Copacabana is not functioning by Monday as promised" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/29).

SECURITY CHECK: Longtime Olympics reporter Philip Hersh on Wednesday said one of the issues that seems to have “been overlooked in all this is security." He said, "Given our current world, you would have thought there would have been a lot more discussion about security" (“OTL,” ESPN, 7/27). 

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