Dirty water at Olympics ‘not a big problem,’ says

“The sailing athletes will be protected”, Paes said, estimating that pollution had already been reduced by 50 percent and “probably” will reach 60 percent by the Games.

The South American nation came under sharp criticism for nail-biting delays and massive cost overruns on the stadia for last year’s World Cup, and the global Olympic Committee has in the past expressed concerns about Rio’s progress in preparing for the 2016 games.

“All the construction work is on schedule”, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes told journalists in a almost finished arena inside the giant Olympic Park building site.

There is alarm in the equestrian community over the appearance of the disease just when riding events start on Thursday to test the Olympic preparations at Rio de Janeiro’s Deodoro complex.

“Rio is a lovely city and I look forward to seeing you there in August 2016”.

Paes was joined at the press conference by Rio 2016 organizing committee president Carlos Nuzman, who fended off questions about water quality amid reports Guanabara bay remains strewn with rubbish and sewage. “While we’ve been very successful in delayed coverage because the Olympics are so unique, live is still better”. In addition, dozens of rivers leading to the bay are filled with garbage.

Officials are on the defensive and on Wednesday they once more insisted that there was no danger to athletes’ health or to their boats.

Nuzman said that because the majority of Olympic revenues are in dollars, the fall in the real hasn’t proved too problematic.

Nuzman said Bach made “a huge sacrifice” by flying to Rio after his busy trip in Malaysia to be at the one-year celebration, also due to be attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff later.

“At this moment, when all of Brazil is stopped, the city of Rio is forging ahead”, Paes said.

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.

“We want to show that we are capable of doing things on time, that Brazil is not a country where everything ends up over budget, everything ends up late”, Paes said.

On arrival, Bach had appeared in good form, relishing two of Brazil’s most beloved pastimes – a kickabout with a football on the beach and a glass of the national cocktail.

“Who knows if climate change will let us do that?”