What Olympic Events Will Be Held In Brazil’s Polluted Waterways? What Are the Athletes at Risk of Contracting?

In case you haven’t heard, the 2016 Summer Olympics are shaping up to be a real mess – a potential train wreck, in fact.

Athletes that arrived early have been robbed at gunpoint. The newly built (and still being finished) metro lines haven’t been tested. Olympic Village is uninhabitable. That whole Zika virus thing.

Oh yeah, the waters that over 1,400 athletes will be competing in are incredibly polluted.  Like, don’t open your mouth -even a little bit – because you’ll swallow poop and get sick immediately, polluted. The most recent reports have stated that ingested even three tablespoons of ‘water’ to be almost certain of contracting a virus.

Multiple samples have picked up dangerous levels of human adenovirus, rotavirus, enterovirus and fecal coliforms in the waters off Copacabana Beach, near Marina da Gloria in Guanabara Bay and Rodrigo de Freitas Lake.

2016 Summer Games Venues Image by Felipe Menegaz [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

• Conjunctivitis – Pinkeye, inflammation of the conjunctiva
• Tonsilitis – Swelling of the tonsils
• Ear Infections
• Croup – A respiratory infection causing swelling of the windpipe (rarely manifests in adults
• Gastroenteritis – The stomach flu, causes diarrhea and vomiting
• Viral Meningitis- Inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord
• Encephalitis – An acute inflammation of the brain, often with seizures, stroke, hallucinations and memory problems.
• Herpangina – A painful mouth infection
• Poliomyelitis – Read: Polio
• Bornholm Disease – Also known as “The Devils Grip” (that sounds bad)
• Pecarditis – Inflammation of the fibrous sac surrounding the heart

*This is far from a complete list.  Good luck Olympians, you all deserve a medal.

As aforementioned, nearly 1,400 athletes will be competing in these polluted waters, here is a list of the events:

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*Sailing and Rowing have several different events

Let’s talk about the marathon swim and the triathlon. While those competing in boating events – canoeing and sailing – will absolutely be at risk from spray, wind and falling into the water, marathon swimmers and triathletes will be spending a considerable amount of time fully submersed in – for lack of a better term – poo water. The marathon swim events will put 50 athletes – 25 men and 25 women – in the water for a 10 km race. The triathlons will run 100 triathletes – 50 men and 50 women – through the much for a 1.5 km swim.

Given the reports, it won’t be a surprise when athletes get sick. We can only hope that none of them fall seriously ill. That a taste of glory is worth the taste of, well, waste.

The world is watching and Rio isn’t ready.

*Featured Image By Chensiyuan (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons