Bobbing on Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay in a blue and white fishing boat, American sailor Brad Funk uses a plastic bin to scoop rubbish from the waters where Olympic sailing races will take place next month.
Sailors and rowers were not worried about getting sick during the Rio Olympics next year despite reports that waters to be used for events have pollution levels equivalent to raw sewage, competitors said on Thursday.
The water quality at the Olympic sailing venue in Rio de Janeiro is a serious issue but will be resolved by the time the Games begin next year, Rio Organising Committee president Carlos Nuzman said on Tuesday.
German Olympic sailors, one of whom was infected last year by a flesh-eating bacteria after a test run in Rio de Janeiro's sewage-tainted Guanabara Bay, said this week they are less worried about health risks than racing effectively in shifty winds and wild currents while avoiding floating debris.
The bad water quality at Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay puts Paralympic sailors in constant fear of their health during competitions with organisers having failed to live up to their promises, Paralympic champion Heiko Kroeger said on Tuesday. The experienced German sailor, who won a gold medal at the Sydney 2000 and silver at the London 2012 Paralympics, said sailors in wheelchairs would be especially vulnerable in the polluted waters during the Sept. 7-18 Paralympics in the Brazilian city. "Usually when you are sailing you open your mouth and take in some water to refresh yourself," Kroeger told Reuters a day after returning from a competition in Rio. "But in Rio last week, mouths and noses stayed shut and heads turned away from the spray," he said. "I have been sailing a long time but I have never seen that happening. "There is a constant fear in our heads, a fear that you could get sick," said Kroeger, who also sailed in the bay back in September. "That of course affects the competition because you know that if you get sick you are out."
JR through his art is paying a playful tribute to the Olympians who have trained day and night to achieve success and are nothing short of superheroes!
Brazil's economy is heading for recession, the President is threatened with impeachment and a huge corruption scandal has engulfed the nation but Rio de Janeiro is riding a wave of confidence in its preparations to host the Olympics next year.
Argentine helmsman Santiago Lange and crew Cecilia Carranza Saroli won gold in the Nacra 17 mixed-sex catamaran class at the Rio 2016 Olympics after a fast medal race that saw wind pick up smartly on the Pao de Acucar course on Guanabara Bay.
'We are approaching major test events in August and we all need to see progress in this regard.'
Olympic sailing began an 11-day regatta on Monday with near perfect winds as competitors showed little fear of heading back into waters criticised for sewage-borne pathogens and floating garbage.
After a 20,000-km (12,400-mile) journey through the vast nation, the torch crossed Guanabara Bay in a sailboat piloted by former medalists, in a nod to one of the competitions where the host country has claimed Olympic glory.
All infrastructure for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be ready before they begin in August, including a much-delayed metro line, Brazil's newly appointed Sports Minister Leonardo Picciani said in an interview on Wednesday.
With hotels mostly booked, landlords are charging a pretty penny for tourists still seeking accommodation in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics in August -- asking as much as $2,305 per night for a three-bedroom apartment far from venues and beaches.
China is on track to return to the top of the medals table at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next year ahead of the United States and Russia, according to a benchmark study released by the Australian Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
In Brazil it will be the Olympic moment everyone remembers.
Only 47 per cent of tickets have been sold so far, while premium events and opening ceremony have been technically sold out
Brazilian Minister of Sports George Hilton says everything is on track for the 2016 Rio Games.
With a little bit of chaos and a last-minute sprint on preparations, Rio de Janeiro was ready on Friday to revel in a moment seven years in the making: the opening of the Olympic Games.
The Olympic torch was raised before Rio de Janeiro's iconic Christ the Redeemer statue on Friday on the final leg of its journey to the opening ceremony of the Olympics, as Brazil excitedly put the final touches to seven years of preparations.
The enduring images of the Games will be not just the great sporting achievements - from US swimmer Michael Phelps' 28th Olympic medal to Usain Bolt's historic sprint 'triple triple' - but also the organizational problems, empty seats and crime.
Check out the gold medallists on Day 11 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.
Come August and the world's finest athletes from 206 countries will be out to prove their best at the Olympics.
'As each week brings fresh tales of the woes of Rio on the eve of the Olympics, I wonder whether my friends had a foreboding that the Gods of the Olympics will bring only misfortunes to their country.' 'For, surely, Brazil is now getting ready to host the Games with a joyless spirit, says B S Prakash, formerly India's ambassador to Brazil.
