jimnyc
07-29-2016, 04:02 PM
I'm all for chasing ones dream in sports. But c'mon, this is literally risking ones health. This is disgusting. Brazil should be ashamed. I'd drop out, unfortunately. :(
-----
Rio 2016: Athletes warned to keep mouths closed while in faeces-infested water
All efforts by the government to clean the Rio waters seem to have failed
Athletes competing in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil have been warned by doctors, engineers, and scientists to keep their mouths shut while participating in activities in the water.
Researchers found that many of the beaches in Rio de Janeiro have been long contaminated with raw sewage, household garbage, and even dead bodies, creating hazardous swimming conditions for the 500,000 people expected to descend on the city in August.
“Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms,” Rio paediatrician Dr Daniel Becker told the New York Times. “It’s sad but also worrisome.”
The Brazilian government had promised to clean the pathogen-infested Guanabara Bay in 2014, but those efforts failed.
Stelberto Soares, a municipal engineer who has worked on Rio sanitation issues for decades, said that the government’s efforts to clean the waters were superficial at best.
“They can try to block big items like sofas and dead bodies, but these rivers are pure sludge,” he said, “so the bacteria and viruses are going to just pass through.”
“We just have to keep our mouths closed,” said 24-year-old Afrodite Zegers of the Dutch sailing team – one of the 10,000 athletes from 205 countries competing in Brazil.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/2016-rio-olympics-water-feces-athletes-mouth-shut-brazil-a7163021.html
-----
Rio 2016: Athletes warned to keep mouths closed while in faeces-infested water
All efforts by the government to clean the Rio waters seem to have failed
Athletes competing in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil have been warned by doctors, engineers, and scientists to keep their mouths shut while participating in activities in the water.
Researchers found that many of the beaches in Rio de Janeiro have been long contaminated with raw sewage, household garbage, and even dead bodies, creating hazardous swimming conditions for the 500,000 people expected to descend on the city in August.
“Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms,” Rio paediatrician Dr Daniel Becker told the New York Times. “It’s sad but also worrisome.”
The Brazilian government had promised to clean the pathogen-infested Guanabara Bay in 2014, but those efforts failed.
Stelberto Soares, a municipal engineer who has worked on Rio sanitation issues for decades, said that the government’s efforts to clean the waters were superficial at best.
“They can try to block big items like sofas and dead bodies, but these rivers are pure sludge,” he said, “so the bacteria and viruses are going to just pass through.”
“We just have to keep our mouths closed,” said 24-year-old Afrodite Zegers of the Dutch sailing team – one of the 10,000 athletes from 205 countries competing in Brazil.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/2016-rio-olympics-water-feces-athletes-mouth-shut-brazil-a7163021.html