Rio Olympics Athletes' Village Declared "Uninhabitable"

[Bouncer]

This week’s scheduled move-in for the Olympic athletes’ village in Brazil fell flat, as the Australian delegation refused to enter the facilities due to serious issues with plumbing and fire safety.

That’s according to the Sydney Morning Herald, which cites the AOC claiming the Australian athletes arrived today intending to check into their rooms, only to find them “uninhabitable.” The Herald claims the Great Britain and New Zealand delegations found themselves in the same spot upon arrival this weekend.

The Australians discovered water flowing down the walls upon attempting to flush toilets, a strong smell of gas, and exposed wiring. The team is currently staying in hotels to await their accommodations for the Games.

Rio Olympics Athletes' Village Declared "Uninhabitable" 

[Mr I]

Apparently the military police kidnap tourists and demand money

Real shit hole

[Bouncer]

Apparently the military police kidnap tourists and demand money

Real shit hole

MMA Fighter Says He Was Kidnapped By Rio "Cops" & Forced To Pay Ransom

[Bouncer]

The Media Village at the Rio Olympics Is Built on a Mass Grave of Slaves

When journalists show up en masse in Rio de Janeiro to cover the Summer Olympics next month, many will stay in the Barra Media Villages, a self-described group of “over 1,500 spacious and modern apartments” complete with kitchens, 24/7 food access, along with a huge pool. But, write Daniel Gross and Jonathan Watts for The Guardian, that luxury comes at a price: Part of the village was constructed on top of a mass grave for slaves.

Gross and Watts report that part of a Brazilian quilombo, a community of people whose ancestors were runaway slaves, was torn down to make the village. Residents say that developers did away with “sacred” archaeological remnants of African slaves by building over them. In contention is a colonial-era sugar mill that Camorim Quilombo residents claim was razed without an archaeological survey—and, given that a huge mass grave of slaves was found nearby 16 years ago, they claim that the village is built over the graves of their ancestors.

Quilombos hold special status in Brazil, which had a long and particularly brutal slave trade. The country had up to 10 times the number of slaves the United States did, relied on slave labor to build its cities and infrastructure, and was the last nation in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888. But the end of slavery didn’t mean the end of its influence in Brazil—or the end of forced labor in some rural areas, which continued through the 20th century. Today, people of color constitute 50.7 percent of the country’s population, and Afro-Brazilians are a critical part of Brazilian culture despite ongoing racial disparities.

People who live in quilombos communities that are said to have been founded by runaway slaves have a constitutional right to that land, Roque Planas writes for The Huffington Post. Gross and Watts add that today, though there are over 3,500 quilombos in Brazil, many face threats from developers who want to use the land for purposes other than those designated by their rightful residents. In this case, residents had filed for the rights to the land in question, but it was bought up by a developer before their claim could be finalized. Gentrification and forcible removal of the residents of poor areas designated as Olympic sites has been rampant during the leadup to this year's Summer Games.

Camorim Quilombo has a long history of resisting development, writes Stephanie Reist for Rio on Watch. From the remnants of the hideouts used by escaping slaves to environmental resources like a state park, Camorim is home to people who refuse to abandon their past. But rather than memorialize that backstory, for now Brazil seems content to point to a lavish future, covering up poverty and history for the sake of presenting a sanitized face to the world.

History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian

[chuckz28]

This is trying to go down as the worst Olympics in history before it even starts.

[Scrumhalf]

To think that Tokyo, Chicago and Madrid were rejected in favor of Rio! Can you imagine how efficient a Tokyo Olympics would have been? I wonder how much money must have exchanged hands under the table for Rio to have been picked.

[rado]

Rio is a joke and the Olympics this time around will be a disaster I'd say.

[decadecadeca]

The water is so contaminated in some of the venues that they can't build a suit for the athletes that is capable of blocking all the pathogens.

Can't wait to see the coverage of all these competitors shitting themselves in the middle of an event.

The US Rowing Team

[MattG]

Sounds like a blast...competing in waters infested with human excrement :panic:

[Bouncer]

Only 12 Of The 31 Olympics Athletes' Village Buildings Have Passed Safety Inspection

[chuckz28]

Sounds like a blast...competing in waters infested with human excrement :panic:

Yeah... An ass blast.

[lipripper]

pretty sad shit...the Olympics is really one event IMHO that should / could really pull the world together.

[BEAST]

[Bouncer]

That's nuts ^.

I would like to know the process that went on behind the scenes that came to the conclusion that Rio would be the best place for the Olympics.

is this just about which country was the highest bidder or what??

[rado]

Every two years, cities around the world make bids to the International Olympic Commission (IOC) to host the Olympic Games. Originally most Olympics games, especially the Winter Olympics, were selected on the strength of being a popular place for winter sports like a ski resort. Today, cities are selected through a much more rigorous process.

Any city that wants to host the Olympic Games puts in its name to the IOC and is considered an "Applicant City." For the next ten months, the IOC investigates the city on several points:

1) The city must prove that it is big enough to handle the Olympics. With the games come a huge number of tourists, athletes, journalists, and politicians. They must show that they can host the games in new stadiums and venues, they must house all the people in adequate hotels, and they have to transport everyone from one place to the next with a reliable mass transit system. They also need to show that they can handle the high level of security needed at the games.

2) The city needs to convince residents that the expenses of covering the Olympics (which may be covered by raising taxes) are worth it in city improvement and new jobs.

3) The cities needs to maintain a highly positive media exposure to carry the games. Fourth, the tangible effects of hosting the Olympic games may not prove beneficial if the bid committees do not exercise proper judgment in developing the city to host the Olympics.

If the IOC decides that a city has fulfilled the three points above, the city is considered a "Candidate City" and goes into the second phase of the process. After submitting an application and an application fee, the IOC makes a final judging on which city is the best candidate for the coming Summer or Winter Olympic Games.

The costs for bidding for the games is incredibly high. Bid committees must pay an application fee (The fee for hosting the 2012 Olympics was $150,000 U.S.), to the IOC. This high fee is meant to discourage cities that are not committed to the efforts necessary to host the Olympics. Following these fees, the cities generally need to begin large construction projects like building the "Olympic village" to house the athletes, new sports arenas and stadiums, and transportation systems.

If the Olympics are so expensive, why do cities want to host the games? Cities bid for the Olympics for a variety of reasons: the desire to show pride in their city and their country, the eagerness to be in the international spotlight for two weeks, the opportunity to bring new jobs into the community, and to build up tourism to that city.