Citius, Altius, Dirtiest

The Olympic sailboat regatta conjures images of windblown hair and glistening athletes flying through the course at awesome speed.  The water gently bumps against the shore and the bright sun sparkles off the dead animal caracasses in the surf. Unfortunately, this is the reality in Guanabara Bay, Brazil just one year before the Opening Ceremonies in Summer 2016.

Brazil bid for the Summer Olympics in 2006, when their economy was at the highest growth rate in the country’s history.  It was seen as an emerging global power; one poised to overtake the United States in economic output.  Now, a full nine years later, the portrait has changed.

“When I visited Brazil this summer, the change in financial status was tangible,” junior Serag Shanbaky said. “Many businesses were shut down and beggars lined every alleyway and major boulevard.”

The nation has indeed continued on the road to a leading free market economy. Brazil, however, still maintains strict government regulation on industry, preventing much foreign capital from entering Brazilian markets. Compounded by corruption and never-ending Presidential scandal, an economy once promising has turned dismal.

This does not bode well for the upcoming Olympics Games.  Favelas, Brazilian slums, continue to grow at unstoppable rates, consuming much of the urban landscape in major cities.  These favelas often grow around Olympic Stadium construction sites as workers and their families relocate for greater job accessibility.  The government has attempted to break up these slums but face major protest from residents.  According to members of the Olympic Committee, it is unlikely that Brazil will be able to clean up their slums before the first tourists arrive for the Games.

As part of their bid, Brazil promised hundreds of new infrastructure projects that would eliminate large unemployment numbers and raise standards of living.  These projects would also facilitate tourist movement in a country mired with crime.

The most well-known issue as the Olympics inch closer is the state of the facilities athletes must train and compete in.  Sailors commented on the volume of dead fish floating in the bay, poisoned by high amounts of dissolved oxygen and phosphorus in the water; contaminants that reach the bay only by the unregulated dumping of sewage.

“It is hard enough to row at Olympic speeds in pristine water,” sophomore and crewman, Ethan Perez said, “Let alone in water filled with dirt and debris.”

Often the punchline of a tweet or blog post, the question of Brazil’s Olympic readiness has become an international issue.  The head of the International Olympic Committee, John Coates, called Brazil “the worst prepared country” he has ever seen.

In order to be ready for the Olympic Games, Brazil must clean up their streets and their water.  Without the purge of vice in major cities, Brazil may face some of the lowest Olympic attendance in recent history.