The Olympics are series of events that hundreds of elite athletes compete for their country. They train to the best of their abilities in order to win the gold medal. This year's Summer Olympics will be in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with its magnificent culture and the incredibly tall Jesus Christ statue that towers over the city. Despite how this sounds like a beautiful place for a tourist, there is a dark side for the location of the Olympic Games. On September 13, 2007, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that the next Summer Olympic Games will be held in Rio, Brazil. However, I do fault them for allowing Brazil to win the bid. The committee was completely aware of the uninhabitable conditions in the hotels and the plummeting economy. Another factor that has recently appeared in Brazil is the Zika virus that covers the vast majority of Latin America and parts of the United States, (mostly Florida in the Miami-Dade region).
Let's begin with the uninhabitable hotels. With the hundreds of countries competing in this year's Olympic games, the Australian team have been the most outspoken. Even though they are the country from "down under", they are aggravated by the fact that the inside of their hotel room is filled with grime and mildew. Not to mention the raw sewage that everyone can literally see through the window, and into their lakes and ponds. An Australian basketball star, Andrew Bogut posted on social media of himself making a shower curtain so he could "shower, not flood the place". There have also been reports about plumbing issues, such as the sink and toilet. These athletes could not sleep in their own beds because of the poor construction, which as a result made them rickety and hazardous. Eventually, the Olympians were announced to evacuate the hotels for two days because of the electrical issues. Numerous buildings were burning down to the ground, and there were constant robberies of the Olympians in the village that they were staying in. In contrast to the other athletes in the Olympian village, the United States basketball team took a cruise ship for transportation. After hearing about the poor living conditions in Rio, they decided to stay there where the it is much safer than what they were about to endure on the outside.
Before 2013, the Brazilian economy was up and running and was quite stable. China was its biggest market, and the United States encouraged Brazil to become a free market nation for trading purposes. Once 2013 hit, those glorious days in Brazil were over. This country is suffering through recent memory. Unemployment and poverty are growing as well as new entrants to the middle class are increasingly vulnerable to revert back to poverty. Public services are deteriorating and massive corruption scandals have effected the top political and business leaders.
One main reason why Olympic athletes have been avoiding Rio is the Zika virus that has infected most of Latin America and parts of the United States, such as the Miami-Dade area in Florida. For those who do not know what the Zika virus is: it is a virus that originated in Africa that can be transmitted by bodily fluid caused my mostly mosquitoes. Zika can cause fever, rash, joint pain, and red eyes. It resolves within a few days to a few weeks. The United States Women's National Soccer Team's goalie, Hope Solo posted a picture of herself on Twitter with countless amounts of mosquito spray and a hat. What she said on the post was that she was not going to share her mosquito spray, and for everyone else to get their own. When her team was playing against New Zealand, the Brazilian crowd responded by chanting Zika and booed her every time she grabbed the ball. This virus is a problem in the American and Latin American society today, and I hope they find a cure for this virus as soon as possible.
Overall, the IOC chose a deplorable place to host the Olympic Games. Despite this, I've genuinely enjoyed watching the Olympics, and I wish every athlete good luck on the journey to achieve the gold medal.
