Sydney was slick, Athens a scramble, Beijing lacked soul, London charmed the world; how will Rio fare?

WITH the Zika virus, water purity problems, incomplete venues, an crippled economy and an impeached president, Rio has faced more hurdles than Sally Pearson. So are they ready asks Robert Craddock?

WELCOME to the Mystery Games in the Marvellous City. Welcome to the Olympics in the exotic, faraway land most Australian athletes have never been to and will never return to after the Games.

These are the road-less-travelled Olympics. The hit-and-run Games in fascinating, exotic, vibrant, dangerous, visually breathtaking, underprepared, virus-threatened yet eternally captivating Rio de Janeiro.

Adjectives have been plucked from all ends of the spectrum since Rio won the right to become the first South American city to host the Games on October 2, 2009.

Security in Rio has been a big question mark in the build up to the Games

Put them all together and you get an emotional jigsaw that doesn’t quite fit together.

Recent Olympics were relatively easy to read.

Sydney, despite traffic fears, was always going to be slick and cheerful. Athens, a last-minute scramble where athletes could smell the final licks of paint drying as they entered the village. Beijing was clinical but somehow lacking soul and London charmed the world as we all knew London would.

Those who know best have a strong suspicion Rio will rise above it all and deliver a great Games.

Rio? Who really knows? It could have a bit of everything and the sheer mystery of it all is part of its appeal.

With the Zika virus, water purity problems, incomplete venues, an economy crippled by recession and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff being impeached for alleged corruption and now suspended, Rio has faced more hurdles than Sally Pearson.

If any one of these issues goes pop during the August 5-21 event it could bring down the whole show.

Graffiti reads 'God is Faithful' in the Mangueira 'favela' community in Rio

Yet those who know best have a strong suspicion Rio will rise above it all and deliver a great Games.

Beach volleyballer and team liaison officer Natalie Cook says the prospect of beach volleyball at midnight at Rio’s famous Copacabana beach could be as spectacular as the scenes at Bondi Beach in Sydney, where she won gold in 2000.

I’ve been to Rio more than 20 times and I think we are in for a Games that will have incredible colour and flavour

Natalie Cook

“I’ve been to Rio more than 20 times and I think we are in for a Games that will have incredible colour and flavour,’’ Cook said.

“Rio will get there in the end. They did it in the soccer World Cup and they will do it in the Olympics.’’

For Australia, and the world, many major questions remain.

Can Australia recapture its Olympic mojo after a deflating seven gold medals in London?

Will drug-tainted Russia be cheered or jeered into the main stadium?

Will Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps rule the world ... again?

All of these issues promise to provide spectacular memories but, as actor Amy Irving once said, the joy of Rio is simply in the arriving.

“You walk off the plane and your blood temperature goes up. The feel of the wind on your face, the water on your skin, the taste of the food, the music, the sexuality,’’ Irving said.

And that’s just the touch down. If Rio can bottle this vibe for the entire Games, this Olympics will be one to cherish.

Originally published as Sydney was slick, Athens a scramble, Beijing lacked soul, London charmed the world; how will Rio fare?