Rio Bants: USA basketball teams to stay on luxury cruise ship for Olympic Games

THE highly-paid NBA stars of the US men’s basketball team will not be housed in the Rio Olympics athletes village.

United States' DeAndre Jordan (right) and DeMarcus Cousins.

THE highly-paid NBA stars of the US men’s basketball team will not be housed in the Rio Olympics athletes village, but rather on board a luxury cruise ship.

The Silver Cloud, which docked at the city’s port at the weekend, can accommodate up to 400 people in its 196 cabins, some of which have already been allotted to the US men’s and women’s Olympic basketball teams, the general directorate of the Maua port terminal said.

The cruise "Silver Cloud", where the USA men and women's basketball teams will be staying.

The US delegation reserved all the cabins for the Olympics, and the ship, with all its amenities and attractions, will become practically a floating US embassy during the Games.

Rio’s revitalised port is considered to be one of the main Olympic legacies and will attract thousands of tourists because of the gigantic screens that have been installed there for people to watch Olympic events and also other entertainment associated with the Games.

The cruise liner Silver Cloud that will accommodate the U.S. basketball Olympic teams.

However, people who visit the port will have difficulty approaching the Silver Cloud due to the heavy security detachment deployed around the vessel.

A fence made of bulletproof material will keep the public away from the US athletes, who will be guarded by some 250 Federal Police officers.

“The Federal Police will also have two boats ... that they will use to prevent navigation near the vessel,” said Maua port terminal operations director Alexandre Gomes.

The US ship is anchored at a site far from the docking spaces reserved for the many cruise ships that will visit Rio during the Games.

NO RACQUET, NO PLAY

The tennis bag of Thanasi Kokkinakis has failed to arrive in Rio in a further setback to the Australian star’s Olympic preparation.

Kokkinakis hasn’t played a tournament match for 10 months after undergoing shoulder surgery.

He hoped to practise after arriving in Brazil on Monday however his bag went missing somewhere between Melbourne and Rio.

“They told me it should arrive late tomorrow afternoon so it’s a bit disappointing,” the 20-year-old said.

“I’ll see what I can scrounge up and make do ... it will be like the junior days.”

Arrived in Rio! Without my tennis bag but it's all good cause I got this... #wherethanutellaattho pic.twitter.com/oUWRDrEJ2Q

— Thanasi Kokkinakis (@TKokkinakis) August 1, 2016

There have already been numerous reports of visitors to the Games having their bags go missing in transit while flight delays and cancellations have also been commonplace in the lead-up to the event.

Kokkinakis said he only decided last week that he was fit to play in Rio after his slow recovery forced him to miss the first three grand slams of the year.

“It wasn’t looking good for the rest of the year with my shoulder but then out of nowhere it started to feel a lot better,” he said.

“I can’t do any more harm so I’m looking forward to getting out and playing.”

BRITAIN BRING A PLUMBER

Record-seeking Britain have pulled out all the stops for their Rio Olympics campaign -- to the extent of employing their own plumber for the leaky athletes’ village.

Water leaks and even a small fire have been among the problems reported at the newly built tower blocks, along with blocked toilets, exposed wiring and unlit stairwells.

Australia had to delay moving in because of concerns over the accommodation, and the Brits are taking no chances as they eye their biggest ever medal tally at an Olympics away from home.

“We’ve got our own plumber that comes in on a daily basis -- he’s not at all overworked, but he’s there just in case something gets stuck,” chef de mission Mark England told journalists on Monday.

“Maybe somebody’s showers are a bit colder in the morning than they would have liked. But we’ve prepared.” England added: “The bombeiros, which is the fire service, they’ve completely tested our building on a number of occasions and we’re very satisfied with the certificates that we’ve seen as well.” All of Britain’s 366 athletes will spend time at the 17-storey building, including Wimbledon tennis champion Andy Murray and golfers Justin Rose and Danny Willett.

They have been warned to keep their valuables locked away after thieves raided Australia’s rooms during the evacuation for Friday’s blaze.

The news that Team GB team has hired its own plumber to deal with the dodgy Olympic flats makes me smile. Most British thing ever.

— Tania Kindersley (@taniakindersley) July 27, 2016