Australians move into Rio Olympic village _ a few days late

Beds stand ready in the bedroom of an apartment of the Olympic Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, July 23, 2016.

The athletes, who were welcomed at the specially constructed Olympic village, have been provided the very best at the facility, which can house 11,000 athletes and 6,000 coaches, including everything from swimming pools, tennis courts and bike lanes.

Australia’s Olympic delegation presented Rio de Janeiro’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, with a toy boxing kangaroo on Wednesday as they laid to rest a spat over conditions in the Olympic Village that has marred the buildup to next month’s Games.

“We now have three floors that are complete and as we were just walking out of the village a whole crew of cleaners were just walking in to complete a further three floors”.

Nevertheless, she said that the problems were noticed when people tried to use the showers and toilets and water began to leak out of the walls and ceilings of the rooms.

With nine days until the opening ceremony, only a fraction of the 18,000 team members expected for the Games have arrived, with the bulk of them due next week. Dutch athletes are considering seeking financial restitution from Rio after the Dutch team’s staff had to fix similar damages to make the conditions in their section of the Villages livable.

In response to the kangaroo comment, the communications director for the Australian Olympic Committee, Mike Tancred, told Brazilian daily newspaper Folha, “We do not need kangaroos, we need plumbers”.

Those traveling to Brazil for the Olympics face a tiny risk of getting infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which can cause birth defects in pregnant women, USA researchers said Monday. It is the responsibility of the organizing committee to deliver a safe and well-functioning village … Delegations from Australia, Britain and New Zealand have complained that the apartments are unlivable, local organizers stated that all concerns will be dealt with as the game progresses.

The Argentinian Olympic Committee (COA) expressed concern over two of the five storeys reserved for their team in the suburb of Barra, citing problems with electricity, plumbing and finishing.

Meanwhile, the British team, the bulk of which has yet to arrive in Rio, is staying in one of the 12 finished buildings and first arrivals report that relatively few inconveniences have been faced.

Brazilian labor inspectors on Wednesday said they would fine the organizing committee almost $100,000 (about 315,000 reals) for hiring workers without proper contracts required by law.

“It was nearly a diplomatic thing”, the mayor said, speaking to Australian officials and members of the men’s field hockey team at the 31-building village.

“Whilst we have encountered some maintenance difficulties this is not uncommon with new build structures of this type and we have been working hard to overcome them”.