Rio Olympics are still under a shadow

South Korean sharpshooter Jin Jong-oh / Yonhap

By Valter Junior

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Majors concerns are always linked to mega-events; in relation to the Olympics, in Athens, for instance, many doubted that all was going to be ready on time.

In Beijing in 2008, the problem was the city’s pollution. Four years later in London, terrorism was the main concern. Now, Rio de Janeiro has gathered all of them plus the Brazilian political crisis and Zika virus together. A few days after the city was chosen as the host of the 2016 Olympics Games, the event was already living under the shadows, where it still remains.

With 100 days to go until the opening ceremony, it seems that the biggest sporting event of the planet will shine just a fortnight before the competitions begin.

In 2009, when Rio won the bid to receive the Olympics, Brazil was already thinking about the 2014 World Cup. After the football tournament, the Games were overshadowed by an economic and political crisis that is now reaching its peak.

An actress, playing the role of High Priestess, holds up a torch with the Olympic flame during the Lighting Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece on April 21. / EPA-Yonhap

Two Sundays ago, Brazil’s lower House of Deputies approved President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment proceedings. The motion is now with the senate and if the majority of senators approve the congress decision, the first woman to rule the country will have to step down for 180 days to defend herself in an impeachment trial. That is the most likely decision that will happen.

Back in 2009, when a big party took place on the sands of Copacabana’s beach, after Rio beat Madrid, Chicago and Tokyo to be selected as Olympic host, Brazil was a growing country. Now, there is an economic downturn, the deepest in decades, reflecting on the event budget.

From August 2015 to January 2016, the cost of the Olympics was updated by $400 million, reaching a total cost of around $10 billion and eventually some cuts had to be made — the cars that will be used by the Olympic family and authorities were reduced from 5,000 to 4,000; and there were supposed to be 70,000 volunteers, now there will be 20,000 less.

But those anxieties aren’t going to affect the Games directly. They are shadows surrounding Brazil as whole. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the Olympics are so close that political decisions won’t affect the event. But the Olympic organization has its own clouds, preventing the event from shining.

Chinese rhythmic gymnast Shang Rong / AFP-Yonhap

Zika virus still matters

There is another issue concerning whoever is coming to Brazil — Zika, a mosquito-born virus.

It is suspected that foreigner athletes, who came to compete in a canoeing championship in late-2014, carried the virus into Brazil. It spread really fast and became an epidemic that infected 1.5 million people around the country.

There is a rush to try to stop the proliferation of Aedes Aegypti, the mosquito that transmits Zika and Dengue. As an effort to help, an advertisement company installed two billboards trying to kill the mosquito. It imitates the heat and the smell of the human body, attracting the bug, catching it up in a cage till the mosquito dies. As the Games are scheduled for August, a period of the year that is not so hot in Rio, the risk of contracting the diseases should be lower.

Dutch triathlete Rachel Klamer / EPA-Yonhap

2 venues still behind schedule

Of all the venues, two are behind the schedule — the cycling stadium and the Joao Havelange Stadium, now also called the Olympic Stadium.

With just 83% of its construction ready, the velodrome is badly behind schedule. A test event was postponed to late June, when the track is expected to be ready.

The Olympic Stadium is a new problem. The IOC wants to paint it, which wasn’t planned in the first place. Now there is a battle going on to decide who will pay for the painting. Mayor Eduardo Paes suggested putting banners on those areas that need to be painted.

Environmental issues

But more than that, the Rio Games has bigger problems with environmental pollution.

The biggest desolation is the cleaning up of the sewage of Guanabara Bay and Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon.

The decontaminations were supposed to be one of the greatest Olympic legacies for the population. Now, it is a lost war — both sites will be in a relatively decent condition for the competitions, but the promises to clean them up will not be kept. When the Games are over, the pollution in those sites will still remain.

“The city, the state and the organizing committee are undertaking many efforts and what we see now is that 60 percent of the surface is clean. Without the Games it would be zero,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

Transportation

Another legacy, the Metro extension, will be working but not at its full capacity. The new line will connect Copacabana and Ipanema, the most famous part of city, to Barra da Tijuca where most of the venues are located. The connection between the two areas of Rio de Janeiro might be working only for those with tickets.

Terror threat

Then, a threat that Brazil is not used to arises. Two weeks ago, the Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency) revealed that a member of the Islamic State threatened Brazil a few days after the attacks in France. “Brazil, you will be our next target,” said the terrorist on his Twitter account.

The Abin said that the chances of an attack in Brazil during the Olympics have increased in the last few months. The government is taking action to avoid such harm to the country.

Things change as time goes by, others stay the same. Brazilian reality is far different from that of seven years ago. In one way or another, the Games will take place in Rio that is for sure, and Christ the Redeemer will, with arms wide open over the Guanabara Bay, welcome the Olympics, hoping there will be no clouds around by then.

Valter Junior is a journalist for Metro Brazil. He can be reached at vajunior@gmail.com.