The Rio Olympics and the Zika Virus

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > The Rio Olympics and the Zika Virus

joepinetree: Apr 5, 2012

Well, there are a ton of problems with the olympics. Green pool and empty stands isn't it, though. The massive debt, the militarization of poor neighborhoods, the security forces going absolutely trigger happy again local populations, etc are.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 05:06

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# ? May 13, 2024 09:14

Dias: Feb 20, 2011; by sebmojo

joepinetree posted:

Well, there are a ton of problems with the olympics. Green pool and empty stands isn't it, though. The massive debt, the militarization of poor neighborhoods, the security forces going absolutely trigger happy again local populations, etc are.

Which is the saddest thing about Rio 2016. We shouldn't have bid for the Games, we are doing passable as is but Brazil will bleed because of it.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 05:17

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Lets get back to this threads interest - that they have hosed up so horribly

quote:

Anti-doping at the Rio Olympics was branded the "worst" ever at a Games on Wednesday after the process of sample collection was compromised by a wave of no-shows and walkouts by volunteers and testers, as well as a series of security lapses.

London's Daily Telegraph has learnt that efforts to keep the first Olympics since the Russian doping scandal clean are in danger of being wrecked by the organisational chaos to engulf the Games in Brazil.

The integrity of the entire process was under threat due to major staff shortages, with barely half the volunteers recruited to help run the event reporting for duty and several doping control officers drafted in from overseas walking out after being pushed to breaking point trying to fill the void.

Organisers also admitted last night that unauthorised individuals had gained access to restricted areas during the drug-testing process, although they denied failing to ensure that anti-doping at the Games was beyond reproach.

One senior figure in the war on drugs with experience of several major events said of the sample collection system in Rio: "This is by far the worst I've seen." Rio 2016 began barely a week after the publication of a damning report in which Russia was found guilty of state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

An investigation by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren uncovered a Kremlin-orchestrated sample-swapping plot at Sochi's anti-doping laboratory.

The Rio Games had the opportunity to restore credibility to the drug-testing process at an Olympics but they have done anything but, according to insiders alarmed at how dysfunctional it has become.

One source said that only "very resourceful" doping control officers from countries such as the UK had prevented the integrity of sample collection being compromised.

Another said large numbers of volunteers had picked up their uniforms at the start of the Games never to return, with others reporting for duty each day only to "walk out after being served their free meal".

Some doping control officers were described as having "thrown in the towel" and returned home, amid claims they were being forced to race between venues to collect samples and even pay for taxis out of their pockets to make it on time.

The director of communications for Rio 2016, Mario Andrada, said he had no knowledge of any problems caused by staffing shortages but did admit volunteers had allowed security lapses to occur during doping control at certain venues.

"In the beginning of the Games, people complained about lack of training of the volunteers," he said. "Not all the corridors leading to the doping areas were cleared. The volunteers were not firm enough and some people were very close to the areas that shouldn't be entered. We corrected this issue."

Rio 2016 admitted that of the 70,000 volunteers originally recruited for the Games � which was reduced to 56,000 due to budget cuts � only around 70 per cent had reported for duty. Unpaid workers are vital to the successful operation of the sample-collection process at a major event like the Olympics.

Volunteers are often employed as chaperones to accompany athletes to doping control to ensure tests are not evaded or circumvented in some other fashion.

Michele Verroken, the former head of anti-doping at UK Sport, said: "It's hugely disappointing that everything that's happened previously around and Olympic Games is continuing to happen. It's just failing our athletes and regrettably making anti-doping looking like it can be incompetent at times. We almost get to the situation where we're lucky to catch anybody."

The Rio Games have already had one scandal related to the drug-testing process when a Kenyan sprinting coach, John Anzrah, was caught carrying the accreditation of Ferguson Rotich when the 800 metres runner was being sought to provide a sample. Anzrah was sent home but denied posing as Rotich in order to take a test for him, insisting he borrowed the athlete's pass to get a free meal.

It also emerged before the Olympics that Brazil stopped carrying out drugs tests on its leading athletes in the month before the Games after its anti-doping laboratory had its accreditation suspended.

That suspension was lifted in time for the Olympics and, as of yesterday, the lab had processed 3743 samples from Rio 2016.

Andrada insisted any "glitches" in the process before athletes' urine and blood reached the lab "do not compromise in any shape or form the procedures of the testing". [Ed.: Yes, it literally does.]

"We have zero tolerance with doping," he added. "We feel these Games to be clean Games. The doping operation is working as it should be and there is zero risk of an endemic problem or system problem. No way." Drugs testing at the Games is being monitored by an independent observer group appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The International Olympic Committee did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication.

EVERYONES ON DRUGS AND NOBODYS BEING TESTED

# ? Aug 18, 2016 06:13

Cliff Racer: Mar 24, 2007; by Lowtax

Hold on now, provided the testers or minders aren't actively helping athletes cheat it can't be worse than Sochi.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 07:36

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Cliff Racer posted:

Hold on now, provided the testers or minders aren't actively helping athletes cheat it can't be worse than Sochi.

well organised corruption vs entirely unorganised corruption

# ? Aug 18, 2016 07:43

Starsfan: Sep 29, 2007; This is what happens when you disrespect Cam Neely

Man alive, don't they use slave labour to build all the facilities in these events? Why not keep them on the job as volunteers under the whip. There's your volunteer force.

I wonder how many volunteers they need to show up to run this thing... like they are at 70% rate of volunteers showing up right now and they are just barely getting by, what if that dropped under 50%?

It's probably a winning strategy for people protesting the games in poor countries in the future. Instead of going face to baton with the local police forces in a pointless demonstration, organize tens of thousands of people to volunteer for the games and then refuse to work.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 08:08

Elias_Maluco: Aug 23, 2007; I need to sleep

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/766312634459258880

So, basically (as far as I understand):

- Lochte & co. stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom

- somehow they managed to destroy the bathroom door

- gas station attendants demanded they to pay for the damage, but they refused

- they would have left, but an off-duty cop who happened to be there prevented they from leaving and forced then to pay

EDIT: actually is even worst: http://deadspin.com/report-ryan-lochte-and-his-rowdy-swimming-pals-defiant-1785452472

Elias_Maluco fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Aug 18, 2016

# ? Aug 18, 2016 17:57

Cocaine Bear: Nov 4, 2011; ACAB

Just seems like the perfect crime.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 19:11

Mirthless: Mar 27, 2011; by the sex ghost

So... What makes the Rio police more credible than Lochte again?

Is it the part where they have actually robbed people and held them hostage before, and are thus experts on whether or not this actually happens?

# ? Aug 18, 2016 19:30

Elias_Maluco: Aug 23, 2007; I need to sleep

The fact that his own team mates confessed the lie and there's video footage of then vandalizing the gas station?

# ? Aug 18, 2016 19:33

Mirthless: Mar 27, 2011; by the sex ghost

Elias_Maluco posted:

The fact that his own team mates confessed the lie and there's video footage of then vandalizing the gas station?

His teammates are being forcibly held in the country. By a police force that has been known to rob foreigners and hold them hostage.

Unless I've found the wrong video the only video I could find has them only in one corner of the video and they are not particularly visible or identifiable

:shrug:

I don't know why incompetence/corruption is so believable in every other case. I get it, Lochte is a douche and may be (is probably?) lying but it's not like there weren't hundreds of muggings throughout the course of the olympics. Feels to me like the brazillian government is trying to save themselves some embarassment by trying to make the conversation about some douchey athletes instead of how badly they hosed up security (like everything else)

edit: Okay I saw joepinetree's post:

joepinetree posted:

The robbers taking his cash while leaving his (and everyone's) huge rear end watch, wallet, and, more importantly, cell phones - completely, absolutely, 100% unbelievable. Cell phones are by far the number 1 thing robbers go after in Brazil. I've had relatives robbed where the robber didn't even ask for money, just the cell phone. Being robbed is so common in Brazil that most people don't walk around with much cash on them. I have never, ever heard of a robbery in Brazil where the robbers went for cash and not cell phone or watch. Kidnapping someone and forcing them to go to an ATM? Sure. But leaving behind obviously expensive watches and cell phones while taking only cash? Every single Brazilian I know started claiming BS the second they heard that.

OK yeah this makes sense I suppose, but holding visiting athletes in custody over a petty crime because they told an embarrassing lie strikes me as an incredibly foolish course of action to take esp. when the media already can't stop talking about how badly they hosed up the olympic games

Mirthless fucked around with this message at 19:47 on Aug 18, 2016

# ? Aug 18, 2016 19:37

Elias_Maluco: Aug 23, 2007; I need to sleep

Mirthless posted:

His teammates are being forcibly held in the country. By a police force that has been known to rob foreigners and hold them hostage.

Unless I've found the wrong video the only video I could find has them only in one corner of the video and they are not particularly visible or identifiable

I don't know why incompetence/corruption is so believable in every other case. I get it, Lochte is a douche and may be (is probably?) lying but it's not like there weren't hundreds of muggings throughout the course of the olympics. Feels to me like the brazillian government is trying to save themselves some embarassment by trying to make the conversation about some douchey athletes instead of how badly they hosed up security (like everything else)

Nobody is holding then hostage and nobody forced then to confess. They were questioned by the police because the story was strange and there was evidence against it. Do you really believe Brazilian authorities would held 2 american citizens hostage during the loving olympics while the whole world is watching? They arent poor favela boys

The story was fishy from the start, Lochte changed his version multiple times, and now theres video footage, witness and confessions. What else do you need?

And yes, RJ is a dangerous hell and multiple people have been robbed during the olympics. And nobody tried to deny any of the other cases

# ? Aug 18, 2016 19:50

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Why are some Americans acting like lying to the cops is no big deal and somehow the evil Brazilians are oppressing ARE GREAT AMERICAN ATHLETES?

Newsflash: you have to follow the law, even when you're in a country that isn't your own. If the police are lying, they're really loving stupid to stick with the lie because the story is being covered around the world and any planned extortion wouldn't actually work.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 21:23

Mirthless: Mar 27, 2011; by the sex ghost

PT6A posted:

Why are some Americans acting like lying to the cops is no big deal and somehow the evil Brazilians are oppressing ARE GREAT AMERICAN ATHLETES?

Newsflash: you have to follow the law, even when you're in a country that isn't your own. If the police are lying, they're really loving stupid to stick with the lie because the story is being covered around the world and any planned extortion wouldn't actually work.

???

They didn't lie to the cops, they lied to the press?

Also it turns out the security guard that made them pay for the door did so at gunpoint

quote:

Authorities said Conger, Bentz and James Feigen, the fourth athlete at the gas station, would be allowed to leave the country after officials "confirmed they had no more need" for them to give further statements.

literally: Now that you have told us what we needed to to save face, you can go

# ? Aug 18, 2016 21:40

Dias: Feb 20, 2011; by sebmojo

Mirthless posted:

literally: Now that you have told us what we needed to to save face, you can go

Well, more like "you told us what actually happened, now gently caress off".

I have a hard time believing you'd be so indignant if the positions were reversed.

Dias fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Aug 18, 2016

# ? Aug 18, 2016 21:46

Elias_Maluco: Aug 23, 2007; I need to sleep

Mirthless posted:

literally: Now that you have told us what we needed to to save face, you can go

Homeboy acts like a dumb spoiled child and then lies to the whole world about being a victim, repeatedly, and is caught in the lie. But is the Brazilian authorities that need to "save face"??

# ? Aug 18, 2016 21:51

Dias: Feb 20, 2011; by sebmojo

Also, it seems like Lochte's behavior was erratic enough that even his teammate didn't consider the use of the gun "excessive force". Also this was private security, not a police officer. Also, Lochte did lie to the police on a statement.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 22:00

Koalas March: May 21, 2007

Hmm. If this man was caught lying about a robbery, how can we believe any man who claims to have been robbed?

# ? Aug 18, 2016 22:05

Dias: Feb 20, 2011; by sebmojo

Koalas March posted:

Hmm. If this man was caught lying about a robbery, how can we believe any man who claims to have been robbed?

I mean, I believed him, and I believe the GB dude that apparently ACTUALLY got robbed at gunpoint, mostly because I did get mugged at knifepoint coming out of a party once and it's not a super fun experience. But I think we can all agree that in this specific case Lochte was the fuckhead.

# ? Aug 18, 2016 22:07

suck my woke dick: Oct 10, 2012; I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!

Put this cum-loving slave on ignore immediately!

Either way, it's very rio_olympics.txt

# ? Aug 18, 2016 23:37

joepinetree: Apr 5, 2012

Mirthless posted:

???

They didn't lie to the cops, they lied to the press?

Also it turns out the security guard that made them pay for the door did so at gunpoint

literally: Now that you have told us what we needed to to save face, you can go

I am finding the endless making of excuses the funniest part in all of this. "Well, you see, he trashed a place in front of the security guard and tried to run away. Then the security guard held them and called the police, but allowed them to leave after they paid the damages. It's totally like a robbery."

And yeah, he lied to the cops.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 00:22

gohmak: Feb 12, 2004; cookies need love

joepinetree posted:

I am finding the endless making of excuses the funniest part in all of this. "Well, you see, he trashed a place in front of the security guard and tried to run away. Then the security guard held them and called the police, but allowed them to leave after they paid the damages. It's totally like a robbery."

And yeah, he lied to the cops.

Well they were held at gun point by men in police uniforms and made to give up cash.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 00:45

Fututor Magnus: Feb 22, 2016; by FactsAreUseless

https://twitter.com/St_Rev/status/766392591571161089

# ? Aug 19, 2016 03:09

AriadneThread: Feb 17, 2011; The Devil sounds like smoke and honey. We cannot move. It is too beautiful.

sounds like a new olympic sport, imo

# ? Aug 19, 2016 03:16

Dias: Feb 20, 2011; by sebmojo

AriadneThread posted:

sounds like a new olympic sport, imo

And if only America's talent weren't funneled into NBA and NFL, USA would dominate it too.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 03:18

Real hurthling!: Sep 11, 2001

AriadneThread posted:

sounds like a new olympic sport, imo

bears eating crucified criminals alive was tuesday in the Colosseum

# ? Aug 19, 2016 03:38

joepinetree: Apr 5, 2012

According to the New York Times, after the first reports of the robbery became public on Sunday, state department officials and the USOC met with the swimmers and they all agreed that they should avoid attracting more attention and let the USOC handle things via a statement. Immediately after that, Lochte went to the beach and gave NBC that first interview.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 07:00

Mirthless: Mar 27, 2011; by the sex ghost

joepinetree posted:

According to the New York Times, after the first reports of the robbery became public on Sunday, state department officials and the USOC met with the swimmers and they all agreed that they should avoid attracting more attention and let the USOC handle things via a statement. Immediately after that, Lochte went to the beach and gave NBC that first interview.

Ouch

Lochte is not a smart fellow

# ? Aug 19, 2016 13:21

joepinetree: Apr 5, 2012

Mirthless posted:

Ouch

Lochte is not a smart fellow

It runs in the family. If you want to lose some IQ points, you should see his sister's famous interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NXv3gMVeEc

# ? Aug 19, 2016 15:11

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Jesus Christ, did they eat lead paint as children or something?

EDIT: Lol, now he's basically saying he was scared and it felt like he was being robbed at gunpoint, despite the fact that he and his friends had just wrecked a gas station and pissed all over the place.

https://twitter.com/RyanLochte/status/766638785140498432

He really is the stupid gift that keeps on giving.

PT6A fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Aug 19, 2016

# ? Aug 19, 2016 15:16

Lizard Combatant: Sep 29, 2010; I have some notes.

I'd never heard of this guy until this. What a loving boob

# ? Aug 19, 2016 15:28

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Lizard Combatant posted:

I'd never heard of this guy until this. What a loving boob

It's pretty impressive to go from being a relative nobody to being known worldwide as "that borderline-retarded douchebag American who pissed all over a gas station and then lied about it" so quickly, when you think about it...

# ? Aug 19, 2016 15:39

Wistful of Dollars: Aug 25, 2009

Man, this whole thing is just win win win.

Rio is the Trump of hosts.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 16:15

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

Athlete's can be complete assholes? Shocking. That's not the norm.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 16:18

Rocko Bonaparte: Mar 12, 2002; Every day is Friday!

Heh. I remember when I was helping run one of the hurricane shelters in Austin, there were a pair of cops up front with me, and we were shooting the breeze in the down time. I asked them what events in town are the most trouble. It was not Halloween on 6th street, nor any of the festivals. Rather, there was one particular long distance race that would end at the mall north of downtown here. They had to completely gear up because the runners would start just trashing poo poo.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 17:52

PT6A: Jan 5, 2006; Public school teachers are callous dictators who won't lift a finger to stop children from peeing in my plane

Let's double down on being a complete moron! What could ever go wrong with this stunning plan?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/19/ryan-lochte-lawyer-robbery-brazil/88995100/

# ? Aug 19, 2016 20:36

Mirthless: Mar 27, 2011; by the sex ghost

The more I know about this the less I want to say anything because Ryan Lochte is very clearly a terrible person who lied about something in a specific way to (I'm sure, at least, he thought would) make himself look awesome but holy poo poo PT6A he was still actually, literally robbed at gunpoint

It is not normal for a security guard to pull a firearm on somebody over property damage and demand they hand over cash. That is a mugging, there is no other way to describe that. You can argue whether or not it was a justified mugging (lol) but it doesn't change the fact that a security guard pulled a gun on him and wouldn't let him leave until money changed hands.

This is why Brazil should have just let it go, imo, the brazilian government downplaying what happened is far worse than some douchebag swimmer telling a tall tale about getting robbed. What actually seems to have occurred here is a pretty loving far cry from the way they were describing events just two days ago.

Mirthless fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Aug 19, 2016

# ? Aug 19, 2016 20:50

Dias: Feb 20, 2011; by sebmojo

Mirthless posted:

The more I know about this the less I want to say anything because Ryan Lochte is very clearly a terrible person who lied about something in a specific way to (I'm sure, at least, he thought would) make himself look awesome but holy poo poo PT6A he was still actually, literally robbed at gunpoint

It is not normal for a security guard to pull a firearm on somebody over property damage and demand they hand over cash. That is a mugging, there is no other way to describe that. You can argue whether or not it was a justified mugging (lol) but it doesn't change the fact that a security guard pulled a gun on him and wouldn't let him leave until money changed hands.

There's a bunch of conflcting stories going around but in most of them, it was not literally robbed at gunpoint. They were even saying the money offer came from the Americans, the guards just wanted to hold them until police arrived (which is more than fair) and the guns were pulled because they were getting into their taxis to leave the gas station. gently caress, the videos don't really show much aggressiveness out of the guards.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 20:56

Mirthless: Mar 27, 2011; by the sex ghost

Dias posted:

There's a bunch of conflcting stories going around but in most of them, it was not literally robbed at gunpoint. They were even saying the money offer came from the Americans, the guards just wanted to hold them until police arrived (which is more than fair) and the guns were pulled because they were getting into their taxis to leave the gas station. gently caress, the videos don't really show much aggressiveness out of the guards.

You guys have some very weird ideas of what aggression is in Brazil, clearly.

# ? Aug 19, 2016 21:01

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# ? May 13, 2024 09:14

Dias: Feb 20, 2011; by sebmojo

Mirthless posted:

You guys have some very weird ideas of what aggression is in Brazil, clearly.

They are security guards in Rio, darling, when someone fucks up property and tries to run away you don't get treated with pelica gloves. Anyway, the "not much agressiveness" is because by their accounts he literally raised his gun twice and withdrew it as soon as he realized they weren't a threat. It wasn't a "gunpoint mugging", even in the widest fuckin' interpretation of the stupid sentence. Did you watch the security footage?

# ? Aug 19, 2016 21:06

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