US Olympic sailing team managing director Josh Adams expressed slightly mixed feelings about sailing in polluted Guanabara Bay, the venue for sailing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the site of the city’s first test event, which started on Sunday.
Adams likes that Guanabara is located in the heart of Rio and is a familiar venue to world sailors. It means sailors will be in the host city and not lodged on a coast hours away from the action.
On the other hand, US sailing officials have hired medical experts to test the water in Guanabara, which has suffered from decades of untreated human waste being poured into the bay.
Photo: AFP
Adams on Sunday said tests showed the water to be “contaminated,” prompting what he termed “preventive measures.”
Despite problems, Adams was upbeat about the venue and said his sailors were too.
“We feel our sailors are safe, and we’re aware of the issues with the water quality in Guanabara Bay,” Adams said. “We know and have proven with our own water testing project that the water is contaminated, but we didn’t discover anything that people didn’t already know. It’s contaminated largely because of unregulated sewage.”
Teams in the test event have been invited by Olympics organizers to test the water.
Adams said US tests showed “nothing really alarming,” although he declined to reveal the results or the “preventive measures” that scientists had suggested.
“We’d rather not share any more information than that,” he said.
Health experts haves suggested that sailors be vaccinated for hepatitis A, and at a small regatta last year, sailors rubbed alcohol on their hands after leaving the water.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and