Controversial Games to begin

Re Let the Games begin, Editorial Aug. 2

The Rio Olympics open Friday but not without much controversy and the same nagging disparities.

When the International Olympics Committee (IOC) chose Rio de Janeiro in 2009 to host the Olympics, it could not have anticipated a Russian doping crisis, the Zika virus, raw sewage flows, or a boat ramp collapse. The severity of Rio’s current economic and political crisis has contributed to construction delays, crumbling structures, congested roads, gas and water leaks, uncleanliness and other issues.

Politicians were eager to establish a legacy for themselves, and why not, when the Rio Olympics would be the first in South American history.

But hunger and famine are prevalent, the income gap between the rich and poor only widens further, drug and gang wars get worse, and the poor people living in the nearby favelas continue to wonder why a metro extension built for the Olympics could not be connected to their neighbourhoods.

Whoever said that cities that bid for the Olympics do so to improve the lot of all their citizens? The Olympics are held for only two weeks, but folks live in their neighbourhoods for a lifetime. Robert Ariano, Scarborough

The “non-decision” of the IOC on whether to ban the entire Russian Olympic team should come as no surprise to anyone. After all, if they had done that, then WikiLeaks would have published the names of the recipients who received the Russian bribes for the Sochi Olympics.

The IOC should actually be called the UOMe. Steve Woloshyn, Mississauga