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| SBJ Olympics writer Ben Fischer |
With the opening ceremony now just a few hours away, the prevailing mood around this spectacular city is anxious optimism. Let me explain those last two words.
Optimism, because it looks like these Games might just stand a chance of working out. In my personal experience and observations, most of the anecdotes I can relay fall more into the “bemusing” category rather than the “horrific” category.
For starters, there’s the security guards who lost the key to the Olympic stadium and needed bolt cutters. Or the handle falling off the door of the men’s room in the media work space, or cabbies who don’t seem to be aware of the new metro line. Or the sewage smell coming from waterways near some venues. Or Mayor Eduardo Paes’ heavy-handed solution to traffic problems: declare public holidays.
None of these things rise to a material threat, in my opinion. Any fair visitor would give this profoundly challenged country the benefit of the doubt, and their joyful enthusiasm even in the face of problems is infectious. As USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said today, “It’s obvious they’re trying really, really hard.”
But let’s talk about anxiety.
We haven’t stress-tested this system. The creeping nervousness is driven by the uncertainty of what happens when the full brunt of 41 world championships, 10,500 athletes, 500,000 fans and dozens of simultaneous sporting events kick off this weekend. A classic “First World Problem” on Tuesday might be a bona fide safety hazard by the weekend.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Brazil is still scrambling to provide competent security screeners for venues, calling up retired police officers to help man metal detectors. A reporter said the bag scanners weren’t even turned on at the archery venue this morning.
As I see the slapdash construction in the media village — which was ostensibly 94 percent complete as of September 2015 — I wonder about the stadia finished just in the last few months. If a door handle in the brand-new media workroom is falling off, what about the temporary stands at Copacabana Beach? If there’s a mild sewage smell two days before the Games, what about when everybody gets here?
As I write, I’m hearing reports of growing street protests in key parts of the city. Those protesters are clearly waiting for maximum impact, and God knows how they may affect the Games.
So these first few days in Rio have gone pretty well. But we really don’t know anything yet.
