Aussie Medical Chief Says Poor Water Quality In Rio Is Health Risk For Athletes

Poor water quality "is shaping as the biggest health risk for athletes" at the Rio Olympics in '16, according to Nicole Jeffery of THE AUSTRALIAN. The national sailing team "will be the first group of Australian athletes to test the waters in Rio." Sailing officials and team medical staff ­acknowledged on Wednesday that "they faced challenges to keep the athletes healthy while they competed in polluted water." Australian Olympic team Chief Medical Officer David Hughes said that "untreated sewage was pumped into the ocean near the sailing venue." Hughes told the national sports federations assembled in Sydney for their annual planning forum that all water-based sports were at risk and would have to maintain a "high level of vigilance around gastrointestinal and skin infection issues" in Rio. Hughes: “There is lots of work being done in Rio to advance the water quality and we expect it will improve a great deal (by '16)" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 5/1).