Athletes competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are arriving to find unfinished living quarters with plumbing and electricity problems, broken lifts and mould, just two weeks before the opening ceremony on 5 August.
Stress tests on the buildings, which should have been conducted months ago, are incomplete with 19 of the 31 buildings yet to pass the safety tests.
The Australian team initially refused to move in, citing “blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring”, and said they were decamping to local hotels.
Meanwhile the Dutch team has conducted tests of fire alarms and emergency exit routes after a small fire broke out while a site engineer was working on a fuse box.
According to the Guardian, the Australian delegation was the first team to conduct a full stress test of the plumbing system, involving flushing all the lavatories and running all the taps at the same time. It resulted in water running down the walls of the building.
However, the team said it would move into the village on Wednesday after seeing officials make “fantastic progress” in improving the accommodation.
Following the team’s refusal to move in, the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes voiced his frustration, jokingly offering the Australians a kangaroo.
“We want them to feel at home here,” Mr Paes said. “I almost feel like putting a kangaroo to jump up and down in front of their building.”
Australian committee spokesman Mike Tancred told a Brazilian newspaper: “We do not need kangaroos, we need plumbers to account for the many puddles found in the apartments.”
Italian team boss Carlo Mornati said they have hired labourers, electricians, plumbers and bricklayers to bring the apartments “up to normal conditions as soon as possible”, the BBC reports.
The British team is staying in one of the 12 finished buildings and has encountered relatively few problems.
A spokesman told Reuters: “We are confident that our accommodation is ready to receive athletes and will be to the highest standards within the village.
“Whilst we have encountered some maintenance difficulties this is not uncommon with new build structures of this type and we have been working hard to overcome them.”
Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada said over 630 staff were “working around the clock” to get the village ready for Thursday.
The 31 buildings will house 18,000 athletes at the height of the Games.
