Star Belgian sailor takes sick after racing on polluted bay

Belgian Evi Van Acker faces missing out on the medal rounds in the Laser Radial class competition after picking up an intestinal illness.

Brazilian officials admit to having failed to meet their bid-time aim of reducing levels by 80 per cent, but insist the course on the Marina de Gloria is safe for athletes.

Of all the infrastructure problems facing the Rio Olympics, the most worrisome and risky of all was the infected water that all the aquatic sports that take place outside of pools would have to deal with.

Rio state officials have acknowledged a real cleanup of Guanabara will take 20 years – organizers promised to do it for the Olympics – with thecity still pouring at least half of its untreated sewage into its surrounding waters, including Guanabara. That class is also prone to capsizes.

Thursday was a day off for the Laser Radial fleet.

Photographs emerged with just days to go before the game began last Friday showing parts of the bay covered in rubbish.

After winning a bronze medal in London, van Acker was considered a favorite to win another medal in Rio. She only finished 16th and 15th on Wednesday, dropping to 10th. Described by the AP as a favorite to return to the medal stand, she now sits in 10th place with four preliminary heats remaining before Monday’s medal race.

A World Sailing’s spokesman said every morning medical and technical officials evaluated the latest water quality testing data provided by the government to make certain conditions acceptable. Acker’s overall standing after four races is 10th with 47 points.

“As a result of a series of measures that include a new pipe belt in Marina da Gloria, the water quality has been consistently within the World Health Organisation standard for primary contact (even though sailing is classified as a secondary contact sport)”.

The chief of NBC Sports says the Games are a huge hit and that he doesn’t anticipate having to make concessions to advertisers to make sure they got what they paid for.

An International Olympic Committee spokeswoman added: “We are aware of one sailor that has complained of feeling unwell yesterday”.