The Toilets in Rio's Olympic Village Failed a Stress Test
Chef de Mission of the Australian Olympic Committee Kitty Chiller confirmed to the Sydney Morning Herald 410 Australian Olympians could not be move into Rio's Olympic Villages on Sunday as planned. The reason? The facilities' toilets failed "stress tests," in which toilets were flushed at the same time on different floors of the building to see if they could handle multiple residents simultaneously.
"The system failed. Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments and there was 'shorting' in the electrical wiring," Chiller said. Additionally, there were "blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring, darkened stairwells where no lighting has been installed and dirty floors in need of a massive clean."
She also mentioned the British and New Zealand team areas were experiencing similar issues. Dutch athletes are considering seeking financial restitution from Rio after the Dutch team's staff had to repair similar damages to make the conditions in their section of the Villages livable. For now, the Australians are staying in hotels.
Rio's mayor Eduardo Paes hit back at Chiller after her Monday comments, saying Rio's facilities now are more inhabitable than Sydney's were for the 2000 games. He added he felt like "putting a kangaroo in front of their building to make them feel at home."
Despite Paes's sass, Australia's very public complaint sparked action: Reuters reports an immediate response to Chiller's concerns from maintenance crews. Twelve of the 31 17-story buildings of the Villages passed full safety checks yesterday and Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada told Reuters she believed all 31 would be green-lit by Thursday. Chiller said she saw "fantastic progress made" and believes Team Australia could possibly move in Wednesday, just three days later than scheduled - and just eight days before the Olympics are set to begin.
May the odds be ever in everyone's favor (toilet-wise) (and Olympic-wise) (and just in general).
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