Sailing governing body will start testing for viruses in Rio

Jorgensen, 29, and True, 33, become the sixth and seventh members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team, joining pentathlete Nathan Schrimsher, table tennis player Yue “Jennifer” Wu, and open water swimmers Jordan Wilimovsky, Sean Ryan and Haley Anderson, all of whom qualified last month. Here, garbage is seen Bica Beach, on the banks of the Guanabara Bay, with the Sugar Loaf mountain in background, earlier this year.

The World Health Organization has asked the global Olympic Committee to analyze virus levels in Rio de Janeiro’s waters, where athletes will be competing in for the 2016 Olympics.

Prime beaches are deserted because the surf is thick with putrid sludge, and periodic die-offs leave the Olympic lake, Rodrigo de Freitas, littered with rotting fish.

The AP investigation also showed venues for triathlon and open-water swimming off Copacabana Beach are filled with bacteria and viruses that pose a threat to athletes and tourists. He said that in one area, the levels were “1.7 million times the figures that you might find on a beach in Southern California“.

Before, the IOC and local Olympic organizers in Rio said they would only test for bacteria in the water, as Brazil and virtually all nations only mandate such testing to determine the safety of recreational waters. The IOC monitors the water twice weekly, which will be increased to every other day during the 2015 Aquece Rio test event.

In a statement to the AP, the WHO said it suggested the IOC start monitoring for viruses at the Rio venues. “The damage was very significant and it is just unacceptable”, one of the sailors said, according to the website Sailing Scuttlebutt.

Barbara Riveros of Chile nailed an Olympic qualification slot with a 5th place finish, 22 seconds behind True, while Katie Zaferes of the U.S. who stands 2nd in the World Triathlon Series 2015 points standings, took 6th place, 18 seconds behind Riveros. “It was hard to hear my partner, we usually only get to train in calmer waters”, she said.

“If I did not need to work so exhausting immediately, I might be within the water myself”, he stated. The ISAF has three courses there, and three inside the bay. A key part of the city’s Olympic bid document was a reduction of the flow of pollutants into the bay by 80 percent, which was widely held up as among the most enduring legacies of this games.

The race was also an opportunity to look at Rio’s readiness for next year’s Olympics.

“We know we are exposed to viruses, maybe to a health problem later”, he said Friday in Rio.

“We’re not going to sacrifice health for the sake of good pictures and good TV”, he said.

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