Filthy Rio water a threat at 2016 Olympics — AP investigation

The other Olympic water venues are under the control of the Rio state environmental agency. In Rio, much of the waste runs through open-air ditches to fetid streams and rivers that feed the Olympic water sites and blight the city’s picture postcard beaches. The Brazilian government’s data on water pollution in Rio de Janeiro show water near where triathletes are preparing to compete…

The World Health Organization has asked the worldwide Olympic Committee to analyze virus levels in Rio de Janeiro’s waters where athletes will be competing a year from now. The AP investigation also showed venues for triathlon and open-water swimming off Copacabana Beach had high virus levels that pose a threat to athletes and tourists.

For many, the reason is simple. The Test Event will allow ISAF the opportunity evaluate and make key decisions in advance of making the final decisions that will govern the main event. “If I didn’t do that, I think it would be a greater risk than going in the water”.

Officials publicly insisted athletes were safe and stuck to the competition schedule.

ISAF is in continuous discussions with Brazilian authorities in preparation for the Olympic Games, and has been given reassurances on pollution and objects in the water, in and around the race area of Marina da Gloria and Guanabara Bay.

“We found that viruses linked to human sewage are present in the waters around Rio de Janeiro in astronomically high numbers”, the AP’s Brazil bureau chief Brad Brooks told NPR’s All Things Considered this week.

Extreme water pollution is common in Brazil, where the majority of sewage is not treated. These are viruses that are known to cause respiratory and digestive illnesses, including explosive diarrhoea and vomiting, but can also lead to more serious heart, brain and other diseases.

Sailors were concerned with objects that may interfere with racing during the Olympic Games, and in response the state government launched a tender of up to $11million Dollars for 17 ecobarriers to be put in place.

Doug Hiller, medical officer for the worldwide Triathlon Union said he was giving no special recommendations to athletes about Rio water quality. Currently, tests evaluate bacteria, but not viruses.

“What you have there is basically raw sewage“, said John Griffith, a marine biologist at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project.

Athletes said that the conditions of the water appeared better than they were expecting.

By comparison, water quality experts who monitor beaches in southern California become alarmed if they see viral counts reaching 1,000 per litre.

The Summer Olympics in Rio won’t start until next August, but athletes will be sailing there later this month, as part of an Olympic test event.

According to American triathlete Tommy Zaferes, team doctors said athletes could take “extra precautions” by taking antibiotics if they wanted, but nobody on the team had taken the medication.