10 Shocking Facts About The Rio 2016 Olympics

10 Shocking Facts About The Rio 2016 Olympics

1. BODY PARTS ON THE BEACH

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In June 2016 parts of a mutilated body were found on Copacabana beach, just meters from where the beach volleyball will take place. The gruesome discovery was reported by a city street vendor and prompted a police investigation into identifying the victim. Rio de Janeiro is notorious for crime and often referred to as one of the most dangerous cities in the world. In an attempt to keep crime to a minimum during the Olympic Games, organizers will deploy an extra 80,000 security personnel to patrol the streets and stadiums.
Sources: Reuters, Huffington Post, BBC

2. WORKER MISTREATMENT

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In November 2015 the Labor Public Ministry in Rio, who are in charge of supervising labor laws, rescued 11 Brazilian workers building the media village, as they were living in squalid conditions. The accommodation provided for the workers did not have any drinking water, was covered in cockroaches and sewage, and the only bathroom had no shower or flushing toilet. The construction company was working on a site, called Cyrela, was forced to pay each worker around $6000 in compensation.
SOURCES: NYTimes, Reuters, Rio On Watch

3. RUSSIAN ATHLETES BANNED

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An investigation by The World Anti-Doping Agency revealed that, between 2011 and 2015, Russia operated a state-sponsored doping program across the majority of summer and winter Olympic sports. It is considered to be the biggest doping scandal of all time. While the World Anti-Doping Agency recommended that the whole Russian team is banned from taking part in the Rio Olympics, the International Olympic Committee controversially only banned 68 Russian track and field athletes from competing. The IOC has urged the individual sports’ governing bodies to decide which of the 300+ remaining Russian athletes should be allowed to take part.
SOURCES: The Telegraph, The Guardian, Sky Sports

4. FORCED EVICTIONS

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Since 2009 over 77,000 people have been forced out of their homes to make way for infrastructure projects related to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. One settlement cleared of residents and completely demolished was a favela called Vila Autódromo. Of the 600 families that lived there, only 20 voluntarily moved after being offered financial compensation or alternative housing. Those that remained formed a human chain around their homes, only for their peaceful protest to be violently broken up by the police with pepper spray and rubber bullets. Six people were left seriously injured.
SOURCES: Vox, Reuters

5. CONDOM O’CLOCK

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The first Olympic record to be broken in Rio will be the number of condoms provided by the International Olympic Committee to athletes, totaling 450,000. They will also be handing out 175,000 packets of lubricant. With 10,500 athletes competing in the games, this figure equates to a whopping 42 condoms each. Enough for two or three sexercise sessions a night during the 17-day sporting event. This figure is three times the 150,000 condoms supplied by the IOC during London’s 2012 games.
SOURCES: New York Post, The Guardian

6. FINANCIAL EMERGENCY

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49 days before the opening of the Rio Olympics, the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Francisco Dornelles, declared a state of financial emergency. Dornelles begged for federal support to avoid a “total collapse in public security, health, education, transport and environmental management.” He blamed the budget deficit of around $5.5 billion on a tax shortfall, as well as Brazil’s deep recession. Meanwhile, the lack of money in the city has led to the emergency services staging protests. Adopting the slogan ‘Welcome to hell’, they have warned that tourists visiting the city won’t be safe, as they aren’t paid enough to protect them.
SOURCES: USA Today, BBC

7. SEX SALE

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Prostitutes in Rio de Janeiro's red light district are offering a 'sex sale' for visitors to the Olympic Games. Over 3000 women will be offering their services in more than 70 bars and nightclubs, with the hope of luring in foreign visitors. The sex workers claim they are slashing their prices, as a business during the 2014 Brazil World Cup fell substantially. They have been preparing flyers, printed in English, detailing their cut-price deals. 30 minutes of sex will cost just $11, half the typical rate of $22.
SOURCES: IBTimes, Inquisitr, Daily Mail

8. ZIKA VIRUS

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Since May 2015, a life-threatening, mosquito-borne disease named the Zika virus has spread through Brazil at an alarming rate. The virus has been linked to a birth defect called microcephaly [micro-sef-alee], which gives babies underdeveloped brains and abnormally small heads. Olympics spectators, particularly pregnant women, have been warned not to travel to Brazil. Over 30 male and female Olympians, including tennis player Milos Raonic, have pulled out of the games, as they fear the uncertainty of the disease.
SOURCES: BBC, WHO

9. SOCIAL CLEANSING

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In Rio’s north zone, far away from the picture-perfect Copacabana beach, is an area called Maré, home to a massive complex of neglected slums. During the run-up to the Olympics, a concrete wall was built around the neighborhood’s favelas. Officials stated that the wall was built to protect the residents of Maré from sound pollution. However, residents believe it was actually built so visitors traveling from Rio de Janeiro airport to the southern part of Rio would not see the reality of the city. Further along the wall, a brand new school has been built. At this point, the wall becomes transparent, allowing foreign visitors to have a perfect view of this brand new building.
SOURCES: The Daily Telegraph, Reuters

10. SHITTIEST OLYMPICS EVER

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In 2015, officials for the Rio Olympics promised to remove 80% of the sewage that flows into the Guanabara Bay, where the Olympic water sports will take place. However, only 65% of the water has been treated. This means that athletes could be swimming, sailing, and rowing through raw sewage. It’s not just feces that athletes will have to watch out for, but trash too. Every day, 100 tons of trash gets washed up into the bay. Rio officials have now acknowledged that a complete clean up of Guanabara Bay would take about 20 years.
SOURCES: The Atlantic, Gawker

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