A Year After 2016 Olympics, Rio Nears Nadir

(ATR) On the one year anniversary of the Rio Olympics, daily life is a gloomy picture of the Olympic legacy.

According to data compiled by Fogo Cruzado, an app in collaboration with Amnesty International that tracks shootings in Rio, there have been 3,829 shootings in the year following the 2016 Olympics. That corresponds to over 10 shootings a day.

The financial crisis in Rio de Janeiro has hampered the city’s ability to pay police officers on time, exacerbating the security breakdown. Brazilian military troops are patrolling the streets of Copacabana, an uneasy throw back to when federal troops were protecting the Games.

Like the city, Rio’s Olympic venues are in flux. Some are operational, but plans for the venues long term are still being sorted out. The Brazilian Sports Ministry set up the Government Authority on Olympic Legacy (AGLO), to administer venues from the Barra Olympic Park. The ministry also is the operator for the park, except for Carioca Arena 3 which is administered by the Rio municipal government.

AGLO only has a mandate until June 2019 and the sports ministry must find an operator for the Barra Olympic Park by January 2019. AGLO and Rio City Hall have worked to fill events for the stadia in Barra, mostly during weekends when the park is open to everyone.

In a blow to the burgeoning legacy, the Rio velodrome caught on fire last week. An investigation into the damage from the fire is ongoing, but AGLO says the internal cooling system remains operational. The fire was caused by an illegal balloon that was set off during winter celebrations.

Venues in Deodoro have not fared better than the Barra counterparts. Six venues are run by the Brazilian military, and have sparingly opened doors to some events organized by AGLO. The Radical Park, which contains the BMX, canoe slalom, and mountain bike venues, remains shuttered since December without an operator. The park has been described as "abandoned," by local media, with reports of alligators in the canoe slalom venue.

Rio City Hall told Around the Rings last month it is negotiating contracts to clean up the park, and aims to open it by September.

Many of the luxury developments built around Olympic venues remain dormant, including the Olympic Village. After the Games, the village was set to become over 3,600 private apartments. As of last month only 240 units have been sold, out only 600 units for sale.

"The strategy of launching the next phases depends on market responses," an Ilha Pura spokesperson told ATR, regarding why sales were low. "As stated, the business plan of the enterprise was structured for long-term commercialization, so that a sales curve is consistent with the high number of units and the absorption capacity of the local real estate market."

IOC Defends Legacy

When prompted to comment on the state of Rio’s Olympic legacy IOC President Thomas Bach this week replied "how much time do you have?"

Bach, like other IOC officials before, urged patience and understanding with the current situation. Sitting next to Bach was London 2012 President Sebastian Coe, whom Bach used as an example of patience being rewarded legacy-wise.

"[Rio is] in such a situation that not all the legacy plans are coming to fruition in the time they were planned," Bach said. "After the Games here in London, the park was closed for more than a year for refurbishments and to make adaptations.

"You have to give this opportunity to Rio 2016, and given the very difficult circumstances, in reasons of fairness, [you have to] give them an extension of this time because in an emergency situation there are other priorities."

As the one year anniversary approaches, the IOC website has featured pieces about the "bright future" some Rio venues like the golf course are posed to have. Local reports have shown that the golf course is fully operational, but struggles to find customers that can afford green fees amid the financial crisis.

As Rio struggles to find use for its venues, investigations remain open into those who organized construction. In April of this year Brazil’s Attorney General office confirmed an active investigation into previous mayor Eduardo Paes over alleged payments from Odebrecht executives. Benedicto Barbosa da Silva Júnior, an Odebrecht executive, said in a statement as part of a plea deal Paes received money for favorable Olympic projects. Paes denies the claims.

Earlier this week, Alexandre Pinto, the municipal head of infrastructure was arrested as part of the growing Lava Jato corruption scandal. Authorities allege Pinto received bribes related to bus-rapid transit projects and environmental cleanup of the lagoons outside the Olympic Park, according to reports.

Rio’s current Mayor Marcelo Crivella has largely refrained from commenting on the Rio Olympic Games. Crivella has focused on reforming public health in the city, and cut funding for the city’s annual Carnaval celebration.

Neither Paes nor Crivella returned requests for comment for this story.

Mauricio Santoro, a political scientist at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, says that an Olympic legacy does exist. However, "the Olympics disappointed the population," and made improvements largely for tourists and the middle class. The legacy of transportation cannot be denied, but in Rio’s west zone "the party never arrived."

"Although Crivella criticized Paes’ projects and preparation for the Olympics, he has so far not presented alternatives to meet these problems," Santoro said to ATR. "There is a feeling of worry and uncertainty about the future."

Even as the situation continues to deteriorate, daily life has to continue in the city. Julia Michaels, a veteran journalist who has lived in Rio for over 20 years, says changes to the city’s fabric brought from the crises are stark.

When asked to describe daily life, Michaels says Rio at most times is a "ghost town." One of the two terminals in the international airport is shuttered, restaurants are noticeably less empty, and people cannot afford leisure activities.

An unintended consequence of this classic Brazilian story may be the population realizing the disastrous effects of endemic corruption and acknowledging deep, especially racial, inequalities.

"Expectations were raised because of the economic boom and all of the mega-events here," Michaels said. "So because of that, people now in all classes have a sense of, ‘it could be so much better than this.’"

The Inspiration of a Judo Champion

While it might seem impossible to be positive about the legacy of the Olympics in Rio, Flavio Canto is trying.

Canto, an Olympic bronze medalist from the 1996 Games, runs the Instituto Reação in Rio. Reação is a non-governmental organization that works to bring judo to children in Rio’s favelas. In the near two decades of operation the non-government organization has reached tens of thousands in many of the city’s poorest areas.

In 2016 the NGO produced its first Olympic champion, Rafaela Silva. Reação also trained two refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Popole Misenga and Yolande Mabika, who were part of the inaugural Refugee Olympic Team.

Silva grew up in Cidade de Deus, a famous favela less than 10 miles from the Rio 2016 Olympic Park. She was Brazil’s first gold medalist at the Rio Games.

"She is like a fairy tale come true," Canto said to ATR. "If someone said 24 years before the Olympics that this little girl in the streets of Cidade de Deus would become the first Olympic champion [in a Games in] Brazil in 2016 fighting in a stadium five minutes from her house, people wouldn’t believe it. God had a lot of creativity writing her story."

Since the success of the Rio Olympics Canto says that Reação has had success recruiting sponsors and an increase of young people in all programs offered. Canto admits that by no means is the program flush with cash, but in a deteriorating economic environment, operations are still successful.

Reação even was able to upgrade its space in its flagship training center thanks to a fine paid by U.S. swimmer Jimmy Feigen in the aftermath of the Ryan Lochte incident. The upgrades mean elite athletes do not have to stop training when it rains.

Still, the realities of Rio’s security crisis are never far away. When explaining how the last year for Reação has gone Canto bluntly adds that he found out earlier in the day one of his students was killed.

"We had an amazing time during the Olympics, it was an oasis in the desert," Canto said. "It did not last long. Right after the Olympics when it comes to legacy we are not seeing a lot. We are living in a very difficult moment, and Rio de Janeiro especially because of corruption, consequences from the petrol industry, we are living in a very, very bad moment right now."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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