Olympic Swimmers 'Certain' To Pick Up Virus From Three Teaspoons of Rio Water (independent.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes from a report via The Independent: The Associated Press has released a 16-month-long study that shows just days before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro begin, the waterways in the city are teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria. The report says both athletes and tourists are at risk of getting ill from the contaminated water. "The first results of the study published over a year ago showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered worrisome in the United States or Europe," reports The Independent. "At those concentrations, swimmers and athletes who ingest just three teaspoons of water are almost certain to be infected with viruses that can cause stomach and respiratory illnesses and, more rarely, heart and brain inflammation -- although whether they actually fall ill depends on a series of factors including the strength of the individual's immune system." Many of the athletes have been taking antibiotics, bleaching oars and donning plastic suits and gloves to prevent illnesses, but antibiotics combat bacterial infections, not viruses. The AP investigation found that infectious adenovirus readings turned up at nearly 90 percent of the test sites over 16 months of testing. What's more is that "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," reports The Independent.

Comments

Every Olympic Year

[monkeyxpress]

These sorts of disaster stories have appeared for every Olympics I can remember. The reality is that (a) most of the athletes are borderline sociopathic animals, and these sorts of problems are not going to prevent them from fighting hard for their shiny piece of metal; (b) for most of the events, you simply need a large field with some markings on it. The chances of that not working out are pretty low.

From living through the London Olympics, it was pretty clear that the whole event is just for TV. The crowd and fan areas are just backdrops for the TV pictures, and a lot of issues (such as the grey British summer) can be fixed by turning up the brightness and using various filters.

The same thing will happen in Rio, and the great Olympic juggernaut will roll on.

Re:What Olympians are actually like

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

If you think an Olympic medal means winning a "shiny piece of metal", you don't have a clue what it represents.

It represents being one of the three best at something that doesn't actually matter at all.