Green Olympics diving pool closes again, smells 'like a fart'
Rio’s Olympic diving pool is closed. Again.
Days after the pool mysteriously turned bright green, an Olympics spokesman confirmed to CNN that the pool was closed Friday morning, canceling diving training.
“We confirm that diving training in Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre pool is canceled,” spokesman Philip Wilkinson said. “The reason is that the water must be still so the pool can return to its blue color as soon as possible.”
British diver Tom Daley, a bronze medalist, tweeted his unease about the situation Friday morning.
Diving pool is closed this morning. Hopefully that means we haven't been diving in anything too bad the last couple of days! ????????????
— Tom Daley (@TomDaley1994) August 12, 2016
It’s easy to understand why Daley would be concerned. The water apparently doesn’t smell too good.
The Olympic diving pool has been closed again because of water quality issues…a German diver says "the whole building smells like a fart"
— Tom Steinfort (@tomsteinfort) August 12, 2016
The issue occurred in one other Olympic pool, as well. Even as officials assured athletes there were no health risks to competing in the murky water, U.S. men’s water polo captain Tony Azevedo told reporters he could “barely open his eyes” in the final quarter of his team’s win over France on Wednesday.
“This is the Olympic Games and they are putting so much chlorine in the water that people can’t see,” Azevado said. “You can’t have that.”
Organizers haven’t exactly been clear as to why the water changed color. Everything from a change in the water’s “alkalinity” to algae have been labeled as the culprit. Nonetheless, there’s not much time to correct the issue. Prelims for women’s 3-meter springboard event are scheduled to begin in the pool Friday afternoon.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
