10 finish the aim for Brazil with one year to go

The Olympic initiative comes three weeks after Aldi signed an agreement with the National Farmers Union (NFU), which the NFU said “could change the face of retailer and supplier relations in this country”.

“At this moment, when all of Brazil is stopped, the city of Rio is forging ahead”, Paes said, adding: “Rio City Hall has been doing its homework over the past years”.

The biggest positive change will be in transport, linking up a sprawling city where the metro now only serves a narrow strip and it can take hours in traffic to go from the center to the Olympic Park.

Park says the team is enjoying its time in Rio, in spite of some well-documented challenges with the venue.

“It’s more important, 50 meters, because we have 50 meters only in freestyle and we need it in all the styles”, he said.

The Olympic shooting range, equestrian track and an athletics facility are optimistically slated to be finished by mid-2016, but any delays will prove costly.

Equestrian governing body the FEI said in a statement it was “aware of the situation, ” which now posed “no threat”.

However, officials insisted there was no risk of the disease – which can infect humans as well – spreading to participants during this week’s test events. “It’s very clear. They are just using the Olympics to get rid of us so they can make a profit from housing for the rich”, said Inalva Mendes Brito, who moved out last month. Some 200 horses stabled in Brazil were participating, the FEI said.

Paes was joined at the press conference by Rio 2016 organising committee president Carlos Nuzman, who fended off questions about water quality amid reports that Guanabara bay remains strewn with rubbish and sewage.

Glanders is caused by bacteria that spread through direct contact with sick animals or, more commonly, thorough contaminated food, water, or equipment.

The bacterial-borne disease was long eradicated in the United States but is endemic in Brazil.

Speaking first in one of several recent appearences connected to the Games, Rousseff explained how the country is “working hard to achieve the best party that the sports world has ever lived”.

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