Rio Water Quality Draws More Sailing Concerns

Water Quality a "Serious Problem" in Rio

The water in Guanabara Bay could pose a "serious problem" for sailing events.

A Sail-World.com newsletter says 800,000 tonnes of wastewater currently flow into Rio waterways each day, and the best efforts of Brazilian authorities can only hope to reduce that figure to 500,000 tonnes a day.

The newsletter mentions that Qingdao faced similar problems leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but was able to call on 30,000 fishing boats to assist with the cleanup effort, an option not available in Rio.

The first Rio 2016 sailing test event gets underway on August 2.

Construction Delays Could Harm Doping Testing

Delays on construction for the Rio Olympics could impact the effectiveness of anti-doping measures, the chief of WADA told CNN World Sport.

Craig Reedie said that it will be hard to implement the successful measures from the London Games in Rio if construction on a new lab is not completed. WADA suspended accreditation to Rio’s anti-doping lab last August due to its failure to meet the International Standard for Laboratories.

"It's going to be difficult to replicate in Rio the system that was put in place with the International Olympic Committee and UK Anti-Doping," Reedie told CNN World Sport.

Drug tests from the upcoming World Cup will be sent to Lausanne to be analyzed due to the lack of a world-class anti-doping lab.

"In Rio...they don't have a laboratory. Their laboratory lost its accreditation because clearly it was inefficient."

The IOC will increase its visits to Rio construction projects to ensure they are completed. Reedie has not dismissed the probability of Rio delivering a new world-class lab, but he stresses more needs to be done to ensure this.

"It's up to them to develop and fund their national anti-doping organization and their laboratory. If they do that, yes it can be done. If they don't and it slips, it's a problem."

Overpass Demolished as Part of Rio 2016 Redevelopment

A section of an overpass in Rio de Janeiro was demolished on Sunday to make way for an urbanization project.

The city’s Porto Maravilha project was the reason a portion of the Perimetral overpass was taken out. A construction company used explosives were used take down the stretch of roadway.

Porto Maravilha, in English, means "marvelous port."

Frontrunner Emerges for Australian Rio Rights

Broadcast outlet Seven Network is believed to be the frontrunner to grab Australian TV rights for the next three Olympic Games.

The previous rightsholder, Ten Network, is considering whether to meet the IOC’s $200 million asking price, according to a report in The Australian.

The deal would include the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, and the Tokyo Summer Games in 2020.

Seven previously spent two decades as the Olympic rightsholder before losing out to Nine Network prior to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Written by Nick Devlin and Aaron Bauer

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