Canadian delegation to Rio major undertaking

It’s like an enormous puzzle, with moving pieces of varying shapes and sizes.

Here’s the challenge: Transport 313 athletes, roughly 375 support staff and 165 mission team members, plus all of their equipment, nutrition and medical supplies, from Canada to Rio de Janeiro in time for the Olympic Games.

It’s a massive co-ordination effort, which includes flights for the entire delegation, plus the shipping of 25 air freight containers (18 x 40 feet) full of supplies.

The goal of the Canadian Olympic Committee, of course, is to get the athletes, coaches and staff to Rio safely and comfortably — and to make sure they’re safe and comfortable once they get there.

That can certainly be difficult when you are dealing with volleyball players who are close to seven feet tall.

“In my experience in London (in 2012), they did a fantastic job with what can already be a crazy and hectic experience, even not around the Olympics,” high jumper Derek Drouin says about travelling for competitions.

The athletes travel economy class for the most part, taking advantage of their 50K status with Air Canada — a Canadian Olympic Committee sponsor — to get some perks, such as an additional baggage allowance, seat upgrades and access to airport lounges.

Once they arrive at the Olympics, the athletes are assigned single beds in dormitory style apartments in the athletes’ village — which can be an adventure, to say the least.

The Rio organizing committee has struggled to finish the apartments and this week the Australian Olympic Committee refused to let its athletes move in due to clogged toilets, caved-in ceilings, exposed wiring and significant leaks.

Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Overholt says mission staff has dealt with some of those “operational challenges” and are “generally satisfied with the village accommodations.”

“Honestly, I’m not worried about it at all,” Canadian steeplechase runner Erin Teschuk says.

These kinds of reports are nothing new to the athletes.

Before every Olympics, stories of poor conditions intensify. In Sochi in 2014, the early reports from the athletes’ village were of cold showers, discoloured water, missing door handles and the infamous self-locking bathroom door that forced American bobsledder Johnny Quinn to bust his way out.

Those concerns died down quickly as the Games began.

“You understand that it can’t be the comforts of a hotel, but I think in general they do a pretty good job,” says Drouin, who will be competing in his second Olympics.

Most athletes bring some of their own comforts, such as pillows, favourite foods and supplements.

Health and safety is obviously a big priority for members of the Canadian contingent and Rio is a notoriously unsafe place, with street crime, gun violence, poor sewage disposal and a variety of scary viruses making headlines. However, high-level athletes are used to travelling, training and competing in places around the world with similar issues.

“Everything always kind of changes with the Olympics,” Drouin says. “There’s always more worries here and there, but in general everyone I know who has ever gone to Brazil has been warned. ”

Everything comes with the subtext: As long as you stay in the Olympic Village, you should be fine.