Aussies not impressed

Athletes Village in Rio “simply not safe or ready,” says head of Australian delegation,

RIO DE JANEIRO— Australian athletes will not move into their rooms at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics until serious plumbing, electrical and cleaning problems are fixed, with the troubled South American games opening in under two weeks.

Kitty Chiller, the head of the Australian delegation, said in a statement Sunday that team members “will not move into our allocated building” at the Athletes Village. She gave no hint of when they might.

This comes as the sprawling 31building village, which will house 18,000 athletes and officials at the height of the games, opened officially on Sunday with some athletes expected to arrive.

This is the latest problem for the troubled games, which have been hit by the Zika virus, water pollution and severe budget cuts.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and local organizers held emergency talks Sunday, but did not reply immediately to emails from The Associated Press.

“We’re having plumbing problems, we’ve got leaking pipes,” Mike Tancred, the spokesman for the Australian team, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We’ve got electrical problems. We got cleaning problems. We’ve got lighting problems in some of the stairwells.”

He said more than 20 staff members have been unable to stay in the building, and said the first Australian athletes were to arrive Monday.

“We did a stress test on Saturday, turned on the taps and flushed the toilets, and water came flooding down the walls,” Tancred said.

Chiller listed the same problems, and added more.

“Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments and there was ‘shorting’ in the electrical wiring,” she said. “We have been living in nearby hotels because the village is simply not safe or ready.”

She said teams from Britain and New Zealand had similar problems.

Despite the concerns, Canadian Olympic Committee CEO Chris Overholt said in a statement that the Canadian team is “generally satisfied” with the accommodations.

“While there have been some initial operational challenges in our section of the athletes’ village, we are addressing these and have managed to find good solutions, Overholt said, adding that as of now, athletes should be able to move into the village “on time and . . . without interruption to our plan.”

The United States Olympic Committee acknowledged there were small problems.

“As is the case with every games, we’re working with the local organizers to address minor issues and make sure the village is ready for Team USA athletes,” spokesman Patrick Sandusky told The Associated Press.

The IOC and local organizers held emergency talks Sunday and met with the heads of several teams.

In a statement, the IOC said athletes with unfinished rooms would “be placed in the best available accommodation in other buildings.”