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Housing Problems Force Some Athletes From Rio's Olympic Village

DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 12:18 PM ET 7/26/2016

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Some delegations have abandoned housing at the Olympic Games, amid complaints of abysmal living conditions, in what is turning into an embarrassment for the host city, with just 10 days to the Opening Ceremonies.

Competitors from Argentina decamped from the athletes' village this week, following their counterparts from Australia, after encountering apartments with no hot water, faulty plumbing and exposed wiring, among other issues.

Rio Olympics officials admitted on Tuesday that in their rush to finish the housing required for nearly 18,000 athletes and support staff, they delivered units to foreign delegations without first testing basic systems such as plumbing and electrical.

While local organizers have about 600 construction laborers working round-the-clock to fix the units, some countries, including Italy, have hired their own repairmen.

The athletes' village, located in the western Rio neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca, was meant to be a bright spot for competitors coming to Rio. Comprised of 31 buildings, the development is to be converted into private luxury condos called Pure Island after the Games, with units selling for as much as $700,000.

Instead, some delegations that began arriving over the weekend have found dusty, partly built units with leaking pipes, bad lighting and toilets that don't flush. Australia's delegation termed its apartments uninhabitable over the weekend and headed for hotels.

Delegations from 117 countries have already moved in to the village, including 15% of the athletes expected to live there during the Games, said Mario Andrada, a spokesman for Rio's organizing committee. He conceded that handover of the units was done without proper checks.

"The water and electricity were connected too late in the process, in June only," Mario Andrada said. "We had to move in a lot of furniture, so we were not totally focused on the stress tests, as we should have been."

Mr. Andrada said organizers are now going building-by-building to do the stress tests that should have been done before athletes started moving in. They have tested 20 buildings out of 31 so far. He expects the job to be finished by Thursday.

The head of the Argentine Olympic committee, Gerardo Werthein, said on Monday that two of the five floors allotted for his country in the athletes' village were unfinished.

"Everyone knows how hard it is to find lodging outside the Village at this stage," Mr. Werthein said. "Although the Rio organizers say they are going to finish the repairs, we can't risk it. One of the most-affected buildings is ours, as well as Australia's." The delegation is moving staff and personnel out of the athletes' village to prioritize the athletes when they eventually return.

While many buildings are still incomplete, Mr. Werthein and others noted that grounds of the athletes' village are finished and impressive. A number of countries have praised the facilities, which include swimming pools, tennis courts and faux-beaches for lounging.

"We got to look around the outside of the village today and I couldn't keep the smile off my face, it looks amazing," Australian boxer Shelley Watts said Tuesday.

Even the head of Australia's delegation, which has been the most vocal about problems with the apartments, acknowledged that "there has been enormous progress in the past 24 hours" since emergency workers were hired to make fixes. The delegation is expected eventually to move into their quarters.

The South African team tweeted photos of the village after beginning to move in on Monday, calling the facilities " great, comfortable."

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, after making light of the Australian situation and joking about kangaroos on Sunday, struck a more diplomatic tone during an event on Monday. The building allocated to the Australians is the worst among the 31, Mr. Paes said. "They have a right to complain."

--

Paul Kiernan

contributed to this article.

Write to Will Connors at [e-mail]


(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-26-161218ET
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