Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/550022
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 AUGUST 2015 51 Sport OLYMPICS Olympic hopefuls unaffected by Rio's 'filthy' water ATHLETES defied warnings on the dangers of swimming in Rio de Janeiro's dirty waters, saying the risks are not great enough to alter their Olympic plans. The waters where Olympians will compete in swimming and boat- ing events next summer in South America's first Games are rife with human sewage and present a serious health risk for athletes, as well as for visitors to the iconic beaches of Rio de Janeiro. An investigation found danger- ously high levels of viruses and bacteria from sewage in venues where athletes will compete in the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic wa- ter sports. These ailments could knock an athlete out for days, potentially curtailing Olympics dreams and the years of hard training behind them. In the first independent compre- hensive testing for both viruses and bacteria at the Olympic sites, the results have alarmed interna- tional experts and dismayed com- petitors training in Rio, some of whom have already fallen ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhea. But despite a warning from a state environmental agency, tria- thletes and paratriathletes entered the waters off Copacabana Beach Friday in an area considered "un- fit" for swimming. They'll continue to compete this weekend in test events for next year's games."We know we are ex- posed to viruses, maybe to health problems later," Costa Rican tria- thlete Leonardo Chacon said. "But in my case, I have invested so much to prepare myself for this and I want this to happen because I can't recuperate this investment any other way other than compet- ing and winning the points that I need to win." Extreme water pollution is com- mon in Brazil, where the majority of sewage is not treated. Raw waste runs through open-air ditches to streams and rivers that feed the Olympic water sites. Although most athletes have been downplaying the dangers of swimming on Copacabana Beach, some teams have taken precau- tionary measures. Italian team doctor Stefano Righetti said athletes went through probiotic therapy to pro- tect them against some of the dis- eases they could get by going into the water. Australia reaffirm interest in future Olympic bid AUSTRALIA is still weighing up the possibility of mounting an- other bid to host the Olympics, possibly in 2028, despite know- ing its two biggest cities have no real chance of being involved. Australia has hosted the Olym- pics twice before, in Melbourne (1956) and Sydney (2000), but the country's two largest metropo- lises are unlikely to figure ever again. Instead, the Australian Olym- pic Committee (AOC) is throw- ing its support behind a pos- sible bid from Brisbane and the surrounding areas in southeast Queensland. AOC President John Coates said a group of seven mayors in the area had been given until the end of 2016 to decide whether or not to proceed with a bid. "The Australian Olympic Com- mittee (AOC) has given the south east Queensland cities -- seven of them based around Brisbane -- the opportunity to the end of next year to consider whether they want to bid," Coates told Reuters on Saturday, a day after the International Olympic Com- mittee (IOC) chose Beijing as the 2022 Winter Olympics host. "During that time they will need to come to us with evidence of both the feasibility and the fact of having support of Queensland and Australian governments." The final decision on which city will host the 2028 Games will not be made by the IOC until 2021. The push for Brisbane is be- cause Queensland is in the coun- try's warmer, north area and un- der IOC rules, Summer Olympics have to be held in July or August, which is Winter in Australia. Sydney and Melbourne are both south of Brisbane and have cooler climates. "The difficulty in Australia now of bidding is that the IOC has a requirement that you have to host the Summer Games in July-August," Coates said. "Sydney was September-Octo- ber and Melbourne was Novem- ber-December so really it's only Brisbane for us, unless you have a special exception and it's hard for the IOC to make exceptions for us when they don't make ex- ceptions for Middle East coun- tries." Sydney and Melbourne had flagged the idea of co-hosting some events after the IOC in- troduced its Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms, which encouraged countries to cut costs by using existing facilities, but Coates said the cold weather and the distances made that impractical. Cathy Freeman lights the Olympic flame at Sydney in 2000