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Pure gold: #RioProblems tweets give that Olympics sinking feeling

THERE’S a Twitter hashtag chronicling the Olympic city’s dramas — and it’s simultaneously horrific and hilarious.

Debbie SchippDebbie Schipp
2 min read
August 5, 2016 - 8:52PM
Sinking feeling: There’s something missing at one of the stadium bathrooms. Source: Twitter
Sinking feeling: There’s something missing at one of the stadium bathrooms. Source: Twitter

THERE’S a Twitter hashtag chronicling the Olympic city’s dramas — and it’s simultaneously horrific and hilarious.

As the opening ceremony for Rio 2016 looms, the litany of hurdles is so varied and vast that it has spawned its own hashtag — #rioproblems.

And the biggest prediction from the @rioproblems Twitter handles so far is: “At this rate gold medals will be handed out just for surviving the Olympics”.

The 2014 Winter Olympics Games in Sochi spawned #sochiproblems, but it seems #rioproblems is set to blow that out of the (contaminated) water.

A quick glance at the Twitter feed is a chronicle of the disasters — everything from a recent demonstration at Rio’s airport that greeted visitors with a sign reading, “Welcome to hell,”

to swimmers told to keep their heads out of the polluted water. It features everything — right down to the missing stadium sinks.

Zika virus is an ever-present threat, crime is up, and with long queues for tickets which don’t seem to exist, preparedness is way, way down.

There are even helpful suggestions for new Zika-inspired Olympics logos.

Spectators, athletes and officials have posted a litany of complaints ranging from the seriously life-threatening to the downright hilarious.

Over at the golf course, a 112-year absence of the sport from the Games appears to have allowed wildlife to flourish — People Magazine reports it is ‘overrun with wildlife’ — a menagerie which includes sloths, mini crocodiles, boa constrictors, mico monkeys, and the world’s largest rodent, a capybara, which looks something like a cross between a pig, an unkempt moose and with front teeth like a beaver on steroids.

Behold the capybara . and this is his best angle. Picture: Facebook
Behold the capybara . and this is his best angle. Picture: Facebook

The IOC said it will do its best to assure players they won’t have to fend off 1.5m caiman crocodiles while they play, hiring a team of five biologist handlers that will transport the potentially dangerous animals away from the golfers if needed. But it’s probably best to keep a six-iron handy.

The @RioProblems Twitter handle features everything from ramp collapses at the sailing venue to a group of protesters extinguishing the Olympic torch as it made its way through a seaside town earlier this week.

Dozens of posts show the unpreparedness of Rio’s Olympic accommodations.

Sports writer Eric Adelsen filed a picture of a missing stadium sink, but later happily noted in another post he’d never been in a cab with its own snack tray before.

Last week the Australian team refused to move into the athlete’s village until electrical and plumbing concerns were fixed. Italy’s Olympic team hired their own plumbers and electricians to sort its accommodation. Maybe they should head direct them to Jamaica’s pad, where the latest video shows work still in progress around the athletes.

Anyone seen the keys? Source: Twitter
Anyone seen the keys? Source: Twitter

Amid myriad reports of robberies and assaults — including the theft of $40,000 of gear from News Corp’s photographer Brett Costello — a would-be robber was shot dead by the jujitsu-skilled man he allegedly attacked. That story gets murkier by the minute with Russia denying initial claims that a Russian diplomat fired the shots.

Other revelations include officials having to open a soccer stadium with bolt cutters during the week because someone had lost the key, and many votes of thanks for the sheer entertainment value of #RioProblems. Occasionally, a sport update even breaks out.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/pure-gold-rioproblems-tweets-give-that-olympics-sinking-feeling/news-story/257b6dfbb34308875dfc634d75d6b3d6