Has the Polluted Water Sickened Any Athletes?

I hope that this string of good luck continues for the athletes, and that no one gets ill. And as far as GB is concerned, I admit I'm very impressed at how well they are doing! And I'm rooting for them to do well, as from an American perspective I consider them one of the "good guy" countries!

@Mike197602 The big three I root for are the USA, GB, and Australia. Canada and New Zealand would probably be right under that in the second tier. And then I guess many of the western European countries would be in tier 3!

@moffittjc I support Commonwealth countries and the US

As a pool professional, I know exactly what happened to the water in that pool, and the excuses the officials at the Olympics are giving to the public is the biggest bunch of BS I have ever seen in my life! They screwed up the chemicals, but don't want to admit it to anyone!

@CRK109 They may be putting on their game faces for the world to see, but trust me they are very concerned about the color of the water!

@moffittjc I felt so bad for the divers. They said it didn't bother them to look down and see green instead of blue but I would have been sick to my stomach. ugh

Oh, is that what they were doing...dodging mosquitos? And here I thought they were doing some special kind of Brazilian ritual dances during the runs!

@moffittjc Dances taught at the St Vitus School of Dancing.

@Asylum I think I probably need to go to that school and learn their dance moves.

@moffittjc That is too bad as it could be so much more. Not much pride in what you described.

@Bluedoll It could be one of the true great cities of the world, up there with Paris, London and New York. But the government and the people have to have the desire and the willpower to clean up their city and make it happen. There was a period in the 1970s and early 80's where New York was a total sh*thole. The mayor and people of the city decided their city deserved better than that, and great efforts were made to make it a world class city. It looks like Rio is in that same position now, and maybe hosting the Olympics there this year could be the catalyst they need to take pride in their city.

From what I've seen on tv so far, Rio looks amazing from aerial shots and panoramic views. But I've noticed on some of the close up shots and on-site filming that it is filthy and dirty. Did you watch the road cycling events at the beginning of the Games? There was graffiti everywhere, all over buildings, walls, sidewalks, boulders, bridges, etc. It looked horrible! And then I've seen a few camera shots from the beaches where you could see garbage in the water and laying all over the sand. Pretty disgusting.

When it comes to the Olympic games, this is the ultimate grand prize for every athlete. They will sell their souls for the chance to compete in the games, if they think it will help their chances to win. So, a little polluted water isn't going to stop these elite athletes from competing. Their attitude is that they'll deal with whatever consequences after the games are over.

@noni1959 The illnesses that you can get from the water take 7-10 days to effect you. Those athletes will all be back home in the comforts of their homes when they start getting sick. And most of them won't even think that it was tied to Rio, they'll think they just came down with the flu or something back home.

@moffittjc That makes sense but to be sickened while competing would take away their chances. I haven't been watching it but been reading about it daily. The one who broke his leg then got dropped was just wow.

@Dena91 It's a little complicated in Rio right now. Yes, they've known for many, many years that they would be hosting the Olympics, and they have been preparing for the Games from the beginning, but it costs billions and billions of dollars to put on the Olympic Games (only 2 host cities have ever broke even or made a profit), so it takes them years to line up all the financing that it takes to construct the facilities. What made this situation even more complicated is that Brazil is in financial ruin right now, their economy is on the brink of collapse, their president was impeached, and their government is in a state of disarray due to rampant corruption.

Yes, the green is caused by algae growing in the water. And yes, in simple terms, it was because there wasn't enough chlorine in the water. It's slightly more complex than that but for sake of simplicity you hit the nail on the head!

@moffittjc I can't figure out why knowing they would be hosting the Olympics since 2009 why they didn't stock pile everything that they needed to avoid this trouble. It just makes it look bad on them as a country. Maybe it's just me but if I am running a country and am able to host something as big as the Olympics, I'm going to make sure that everything is taking care of before any of the events takes place. I know you running city pools knows more about it. Can there be a shortage on such things? Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture.

I'm hoping that none of the athletes have gotten sick. But if some have, they are doing a really good job of hiding it.

That's what I was thinking. Sometimes, these illnesses don't raise their ugly heads for 7-10 days after coming into contact with them. I'm willing to bet we'll see or hear about a lot of sick athletes AFTER the games are over.

I would never swim in green water either.

I remember Bob Costas saying on the first night of the NBC broadcast that now that the Olympics were starting, they were going to focus on the positive aspects of the Games, and not call any more attention to the negative aspects. I think for the most part, they have been doing a good job with that.