Environment

These Tweets Show How Rio Is Unprepared for the Games

August 4th 2016

When Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the Olympics back in 2009 it promised to clean up the city's pollution problems and be ready in time for the Games. That couldn't be further from the truth.

With the Olympics less than a day away, Brazil's unpreparedness is more apparent than ever and people on social media are taking note.

Dozens of people on Twitter are posting images with several hashtags exposing the lackluster condition of Rio de Janeiro's Olympic accommodations.

Even some athletes tweeted about having to create DIY amenities.

These tweets follow news that Rio's waters remain severely contaminated with sewage and trash, and that Rio's air quality is the dirtiest of any Olympics since the 1980s — excluding the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

While the country promised to resolve these issues years ago when they were named host of the 2016 Olympic Games, the country's effort to curtail these problems have fallen short.

Although presented as a benefit, the games can create more challenges for the host nation.

In a survey cited by Reuters, 60 percent of Brazilians believe the games, which cost an estimated $12.2 billion, "will do more harm than good, while 32 percent believe the games will bring more benefits to the country than losses." In addition, Reuters reported that while the games draw near, the country finds itself in its worst recession in years.

As pointed out by Barry Petchesky in a piece from Deadspin, Brazil promised $1 billion dollars in water improvements in its bid in 2009 but those improvements "simply never happened."

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