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[Sir_Crocodile]

Andy Dufresne's got this in the bag

 

[jett]

The IOC is fucking pathetic.

Imagine training your whole life to be the best and then being told the competition will be held in poo water.

How can you say you love swimming if you won't drink poo water?

 

[Brannon]

How can you say you love Brazil if you can't even compete in her poop?

 

[blackjaw]

This is what happens when you don't build up your infrastructure and just pocket money in good years

 

[Insane Metal]

So, the Olympic Torch (is that how it's called in English?) was stolen at Angra last night. LOL

 

[Condom]

So, the Olympic Torch (is that how it's called in English?) was stolen at Angra last night. LOL

Article about it

Awesome teachers

 

[Chronoja]

So, the Olympic Torch (is that how it's called in English?) was stolen at Angra last night. LOL

That wily Prometheus at it again I see.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

So, the Olympic Torch (is that how it's called in English?) was stolen at Angra last night. LOL

Wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to steal it and then toss it into the water.

 

[Messofanego]

Wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to steal it and then toss it into the water.

Hey, Olympic swimmers, fetch. This is training for the real thing.

 

[SMG]

We were aiming for the moon. We were shooting at the stars.
But the kids were just shooting at the busses and the cars.
So don't drink the water, don't you breathe the air.
If it's gotten to that point then I have to declare:

That you please bury me with it!
Please bury me with it!

 

[Maximus.]

It is kind of alarming how this event could possibly spread the Zika virus around the world from athletes attending and visitors to the country. With that and all these other cautionary advisories, there really needs to be some reform for the Olympics. It just seems these committees that form world events have become too corrupt. I say too corrupt because everything in this world is corrupt at the end of the day.

 

[Joni]

It is kind of alarming how this event could possibly spread the Zika virus around the world from athletes attending and visitors to the country. With that and all these other cautionary advisories, there really needs to be some reform for the Olympics. It just seems these committees that form world events have become too corrupt. I say too corrupt because everything in this world is corrupt at the end of the day.

At least can't exactly blame the Olympics for Zika. It wasn't a serious threat when Rio was selected.

 

[Ghost]

At least can't exactly blame the Olympics for Zika. It wasn't a serious threat when Rio was selected.

I think you can blame them for deciding that holding the olympics is more important than the health of the people competing and spectating.

It just highlights once again that the IOC couldn't give two shits about the 'olympic movement' or anything besides getting paid by its sponsors.

 

[nkarafo]

And after this, the final challenge will be in Ganges, India.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Expert to Rio athletes: 'Don't put your head under water':

Since the AP released the initial results last July, athletes have been taking elaborate precautions to prevent illnesses that could potentially knock them out of the competition, including preventatively taking antibiotics, bleaching oars and donning plastic suits and gloves in a bid to limit contact with the water.

But antibiotics combat bacterial infections, not viruses. And the AP investigation found that infectious adenovirus readings — tested with cell cultures and verified with molecular biology protocols — turned up at nearly 90 percent of the test sites over 16 months of testing.

"That's a very, very, very high percentage," said Dr. Valerie Harwood, Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of South Florida. "Seeing that level of human pathogenic virus is pretty much unheard of in surface waters in the U.S. You would never, ever see these levels because we treat our waste water. You just would not see this."

While athletes take precautions, what about the 300,000-500,000 foreigners expected to descend on Rio for the Olympics? Testing at several of the city's world-famous beaches has shown that in addition to persistently high viral loads, the beaches often have levels of bacterial markers for sewage pollution that would be cause for concern abroad — and sometimes even exceed Rio state's lax water safety standards.

In light of the AP's findings, Harwood had one piece of advice for travelers to Rio: "Don't put your head under water."

Swimmers who cannot heed that advice stand to ingest water through their mouths and noses and therefore risk "getting violently ill," she said.

Danger is lurking even in the sand. Samples from the beaches at Copacabana and Ipanema revealed high levels of viruses, which recent studies have suggested can pose a health risk — particularly to babies and small children.

Dr. Fernando Spilki, the virologist and coordinator of the molecular microbiology laboratory at Feevale University in southern Brazil whom AP commissioned to conduct the water tests, says the survey revealed no appreciable improvement in Rio's blighted waters — despite cleanup promises stretching back decades.

"Unfortunately, what we've seen throughout all this time is that there is a variation in the levels of contamination, but it fluctuates much more as a result of climactic conditions than due to any measures that may have been taken to try to remove this contamination," said Spilki, one of Brazil's most respected virologists.

The most contaminated points are the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, where Olympic rowing will take place, and the Gloria Marina, the starting point for the sailing races. In March, 2015, sampling at the Lagoon revealed an astounding 1.73 billion adenoviruses per liter; this June, adenovirus readings were lower but still hair-raising at 248 million adenoviruses per liter. By comparison, in California, viral readings in the thousands per liter are enough to set off alarm bells.

Despite a project aimed at preventing raw sewage from flowing directly into the Gloria Marina through storm drains, the waters remain just as contaminated. The first sampling there, in March, 2015, showed over 26 million adenoviruses per liter; this June, over 37 million adenoviruses per liter were detected.

While local authorities including Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes have acknowledged the failure of the city's water cleanup efforts, calling it a "lost chance" and a "shame," Olympic officials continue to insist Rio's waterways will be safe for athletes and visitors. The local organizing committee did not respond to multiple requests for comment, though it has previously said bacterial testing conducted by Rio state authorities has shown the aquatic venues to be within state guidelines.

The crux of the issue lies in the different types of testing used to determine the health and safety of recreational waters.

Bacterial tests measure levels of coliforms — different types of bacteria that tend not to cause illnesses themselves but are indicators of the presence of other, potentially harmful sewage-borne pathogens such as other bacteria, viruses and protozoa that can cause cholera, dysentery, hepatitis A and typhoid, among other diseases. Bacterial tests are the worldwide standard because they're cheap and easy.

But there's a growing consensus that they're not ideal for all climates, as bacteria break down quickly in tropical weather and salty marine waters. In contrast, viruses have been shown to survive for weeks, months or even years — meaning that in tropical Rio low bacterial markers can be completely out of step with high virus levels.

That disparity was borne out in the AP's testing. For instance, in June, 2016, the levels of fecal coliforms in water samples from Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches were extremely low, with just 31 and 85 fecal coliforms per 100 milliliters, respectively. But still, both had alarming readings for rotavirus, the main cause of gastroenteritis globally, with 7.22 million rotaviruses per liter detected in the waters of Copacabana, while 32.7 million rotaviruses per liter were found in the waters of Ipanema Beach.

The testing also revealed alarming spikes in fecal coliform levels — the very measure the state government uses to determine the safety of Rio's recreational waters.

After the AP's initial report on the findings of the study in July of last year, the Olympics' adviser on health matters, the World Health Organization, said it would carry out its own viral testing in Rio's Olympic waterways. The agency later flip-flopped, finally concluding that bacterial tests alone would suffice.

Athletes who have trained years for a chance at Olympic glory have resigned themselves to competing in the filth.

Just over a month before the games, biologist Mario Moscatelli spent more than two hours flying over Rio in a helicopter, as he's done on a monthly basis for the past 20 years.

Viewed from above, Rio's sewage problem is as starkly visible as on the spreadsheets of the AP analysis: Rivers are tar-black; the lagoons near the Olympic Park bloom with fluorescent green algae that thrives amid sewage; fishermen's wooden boats sink into thick sludge in the Guanabara Bay; surfers paddle amid a giant brown stain that contrasts with the azure of the surrounding waters.

"It's been decades and I see no improvement," laments Moscatelli, an activist who's the most visible face of the fight to clean up Rio's waterways. "The Guanabara Bay has been transformed into a latrine ... and unfortunately Rio de Janeiro missed the opportunity, maybe the last big opportunity" to clean it up.

 

[Anoregon]

Man I really have a bad feeling about the olympics this year. It is already on the way to being a complete disaster, and there's no reason to believe things won't continue to go wrong.