German Olympic sailors, one of whom was infected last year by a flesh-eating bacteria after a test run in Rio de Janeiro's sewage-tainted Guanabara Bay, said this week that "they are less worried about health risks than racing effectively in shifty winds and wild currents while avoiding floating debris." Three top medal prospects from the highly-ranked German sailing team said that "plastic bags and bottles, floating logs, the occasional dead dog and other flotsam will make what is already one of the most challenging Olympic sailing venues even harder." The sailors said that those factors will affect their performance on the "playground," as the Germans call the race course (REUTERS, 7/13).
CUBA WILL COMPETE: National Sports Institute (INDER) High Performance Sports Dir José Antonio Miranda said that the Cuban men's volleyball team will compete in the Rio Olympics "despite the detention of six of its players in Finland over a suspected aggravated rape." Miranda said that Cuba will be "sending 120 athletes to the Games in Rio de Janeiro to compete in 18 disciplines." Miranda: "After not qualifying in volleyball for 16 years, we had 18 athletes in our preselection and we are going to be there with 12 in the Olympic games" (REUTERS, 7/13).
CATCH 'EM ALL: Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes "really wants Pokémon Go to come to Brazil before the Olympic games." In a Facebook post, Paes "pleaded with Nintendo to launch the app in the 2016 Olympics host city before the Games begin." According to Facebook, the post translates to “Hello, Nintendo! 23 days to go to the Olympics Rio 2016. The whole world is coming here. Come too!#Cidadeolímpica #rio2016#pokemongonobrasil” (TIME, 7/13).
