Summer Olympics 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[Lynn49]

Olympics to continue unchanged despite political crisis in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO — The venues are, in the words of organizers, 99 percent ready. The torch is winding its way around the country in a three-month relay ending at the opening ceremony.
Even if the country is preoccupied with the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, organizers insist the Olympics won’t be touched by the ongoing political turmoil.

Even if the impeachment battle temporarily tapers off with Rousseff’s suspension, Rio still faces myriad problems, making South America’s first Olympics the most contentious in decades.

Brazil is mired in the deepest recession since the 1930s, and it’s at the epicenter of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has been proven to cause birth defects in newborn babies.
The country is also gripped by a $3 billion corruption scandal at state-run oil giant Petrobras with many of the same construction companies working on Olympic projects.
Other worries include slow ticket sales, $500 million cuts to balance the operating budget, and the death of two men last month when a newly built Olympic-legacy bike lane collapsed into the sea.

The state of Rio de Janeiro has also chopped $550 million from its security budget (about 20 percent), a big worry since the state will provide about 65,000 of the 85,000 police and soldiers to patrol the games.

http://globalnews.ca/news/2698910/ol...sis-in-brazil/

One disaster after another: it makes me wonder if we'll look back on these games and say, "The signs were all there..."
I hope everything goes well, that everyone stays safe and that Brazil can climb out of the mire it finds itself in right now.

[Ciel]

I like most of the outfits shown, despite some very nautical looks (including Australia's-what, everyone crewed a boat?).

Since World Cup 2014 was a showcase for Brazil, this event could do the same for the country. Remember, it was just three years ago that Brazil's economy was on the uptick and learning Chinese was a big deal given the Chinese investment in the country.

[Natalka]

Olympic refugee team athletes announced

The first Refugee Olympic Team, made up of 10 athletes, was announced by the International Olympic Committee on Friday.


It includes five athletes from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from Congo and one from Ethiopia.


The refugee team will march in the Opening Ceremony as the penultimate delegation behind the Olympic Flag, just before host nation Brazil at the Maracana on Aug. 5.


“Ten refugee athletes will act as a symbol of hope for refugees worldwide and bring global attention to the magnitude of the refugee crisis when they take part in the Olympic Games,” the IOC said in a press release.
The 10 athletes were chosen from a group of 43 candidates

“These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem,” IOC president Thomas Bach said in a press release. “We will offer them a home in the Olympic Village together with all the athletes of the world. The Olympic anthem will be played in their honor, and the Olympic flag will lead them into the Olympic Stadium. This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society. These refugee athletes will show the world that despite the unimaginable tragedies that they have faced, anyone can contribute to society through their talent, skills and strength of the human spirit.”

Here are the athletes:

• Rami Anis (M): Country of origin – Syria; host NOC – Belgium; sport – swimming
• Yiech Pur Biel (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 800m
• James Nyang Chiengjiek (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 400m
• Yonas Kinde (M): Country of origin – Ethiopia; host NOC – Luxembourg; sport – athletics, marathon
• Anjelina Nada Lohalith (F): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 1500m
• Rose Nathike Lokonyen (F): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 800m
• Paulo Amotun Lokoro (M): Country of origin – South Sudan; host NOC – Kenya; sport – athletics, 1500m
• Yolande Bukasa Mabika (F): Country of origin – Democratic Republic of the Congo; host NOC – Brazil; sport – judo, -70kg
• Yusra Mardini (F): Country of origin – Syria; host NOC – Germany; sport – swimming
• Popole Misenga (M): Country of origin – Democratic Republic of the Congo; host NOC – Brazil; sport – judo, -90kg

http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2016/0...-rio-athletes/

[Natalka]

Canada Olympic House in Rio


The Canadian Olympic Committee unveiled Thursday its final plans for the Canada Olympic House in Rio de Janeiro, the home base for Canadian athletes and their families when they arrive in Brazil in August.

Among the facility’s unique features are canoe paddles hung from ceilings, Hudson’s Bay curtains on the walls and screen windows designed to keep potential Zika-carrying mosquitos out of athletes’ bedrooms.







http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases...581644041.html

[Natalka]

International Olympics Committee released images of the Rio 2016 gold, silver, bronze and Paralympic medals.




Gold medal

On the face of each new medal is still the traditional laurel leaf and Rio 2016 logo. The reverse side displays a traditional etching of Nike, Greek goddess of victory.

About 30% of the silver used in the new summer Olympic medals will be recycled waste from leftover mirrors, solder and X-ray plates, according to a statement on the official Olympics website. Bronze medals will be made with copper waste from the national mint. Even the ribbons hanging around the necks of the world’s most elite athletes will be woven with recycled plastic from old bottles.


Paralympics medals will be updated with tiny steel balls inside that allow visually impaired athletes to identify the type of medal by shaking them and listening to the noise. (gold has the loudest noise, bronze the quietest)







The medal cases are made from wood from certified sustainable sources

[Natalka]

Also revealed at the event on Tuesday (14 June) at the Future Arena, were the podiums (above), which are made from organic materials and celebrate the tropical nature of Brazil. The podiums have been designed to be reused as furniture after the Games. Also in line with Rio 2016's commitment to sustainability, the medal trays that the presenters will use are made of certified Curupixá wood.



The uniforms that will be worn by the medal presenters were also unveiled at the event. Inspired by the natural beauty of Rio and by Brazilian culture and fashion

[Natalka]

Russian track and field athletes banned from Rio Olympics

In a historic decision, the IAAF voted unanimously to extend a ban of the All-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF or RusAF) that has kept its athletes out of international competition since a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission report released in November concluded Russia was running a state-sponsored doping program in athletics.

Noting significant progress toward satisfying verification criteria being monitored by an IAAF task force, Rune Andersen, chair of that group, said several other criteria have not been satisfied.
“In particular, the deep-seated culture of tolerance, or worse, for doping, that got RusAF suspended in the first place appears not to have been changed materially, to date,” he said in a news conference announcing the IAAF decision.

“The head coach of the Russian athletic team and many of the athletes on that team appear unwilling to acknowledge the nature and extent of the doping problem in Russian athletics, and certain athletes and coaches appear willing to ignore the doping rules. A strong and effective anti-doping infrastructure capable of detecting and deterring doping has still not been created.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...pics/85994148/

[Natalka]

Four colours will identify different functions among Games staff



Divided into four groups, each uniform's predominant colour will indicate the function of its user: red is for medical services, blue for the technical officials (who will also receive a formal uniform), yellow for the operational team and green for those that will interact directly with the public.

Green - information



Red - medical services



Yellow - Games' teams, operational



Blue - technical official/referees

[Natalka]

Rio 2016 ‏@Rio2016_en 23h23 hours ago Aida Mendes, 107, is the oldest torchbearer so far! She had the honour of lighting the cauldronMacapá





Fun fact: When the #OlympicFlame travels by air, it rides a custom jet airliner that says, "Olympic Dream onboard."

[Natalka]

Today's torch run

Rio 2016 ‏@Rio2016_en 24m24 minutes ago Donilson Gama da Silva dedicated his time with the #OlympicFlame to his cancer-survivor niece Santarém






Follow the torch, or other Olympics news

https://twitter.com/Rio2016_en

[Darth Penguin]

Rio declares "State of Calamity" amid cash crisis ahead of Olympics

The state government of Rio de Janeiro has announced a “state of public calamity” over its financial crisis with less than 50 days until the capital city hosts the Olympics. A decree published late on Friday said that a fall in public revenue – mainly a result of the oil crash – could stop the government from “honouring its commitments” to host the Rio 2016 Games with just 49 days until the Opening Ceremony.
It also warned the crisis could cause a “total collapse in public security, health, education, mobility and environmental management”.
Ordered by the acting state governor, Francisco Dornelles, the decree authorised “exceptional measures” to guarantee the Games.

[Natalka]

Russian rowing team banned from Rio Olympics for doping

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – The Russian men’s quadruple sculls team has been disqualified from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for a doping violation, and will be replaced at the games by New Zealand, world rowing’s ruling body announced Thursday.

The World Rowing Federation says that trimetazidine, a banned substance, was found in a urine sample given by rower Sergei Fedorovtsev in an out-of-competition test on May 17.
He competed a week later at the final Olympic qualifying regatta in Switzerland, where Russia finished first to qualify for Rio.

As Fedorovtsev, who won a gold medal in quadruple sculls at the 2004 Athens Olympics, had provided a positive doping test, the federation said that “the results of all competitions in which the rower participated after 17 May 2016 are therefore automatically disqualified.”
New Zealand, which finished third behind Russia and Canada in the qualifying event, will replace the Russian crew in Rio. Canada also qualified by finishing second, joining the top eight crews who secured their Olympic places at the 2015 world championships, held in France.

http://globalnews.ca/news/2798163/ru...cs-for-doping/

[seylz_gurl]

http://espn.go.com/olympics/story/_/...-zika-concerns

Hideki Matsuyama 7th golfer withdrawing from Rio Olympics due to Zika fears. Golfers are concerned about future pregnancies of their family.

[Natalka]

‘It shouldn’t be this dirty’: Olympic sailors complain as white boats turn brown

RIO DE JANEIRO — A new pollution problem has surfaced in Guanabara Bay, the venue for sailing in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Sailors complained Monday about an oil slick that turned white boats brown with crews in town practicing for the Olympics, which open in a month.

“We’ve never seen anything like this. It was all over the place,” said Finnish sailor Camilla Cedercreutz. “There was no way you could avoid it.”
Cedercreutz said the slick filled part of the bay on Sunday, staining her boat from bow to stern.

Guanabara Bay is severely polluted, filled with bacteria and viruses. However, sailors have less frequently complained about industrial pollution in the giant bay.
Spanish sailor Jordi Xammar, who will compete in the 470 class, said he saw the slick “and tried to avoid it.”

Rio organizing committee officials say the venue is safe, although independent studies by The Associated Press show high level of pathogens in waters that Rio is using for sailing, rowing, canoeing and open-water swimming.

World Sailing, the governing body of the sport, said Monday it was “not in a position to comment.”



http://globalnews.ca/news/2803189/it...ts-turn-brown/

[Natalka]

China



China chose to wrap up its team in the colors of their country's flag