The Guardian
RIO DE JANEIRO - Zofia Noceti-Klepacka, a Polish Olympic Sailor, was looking forward to a leisurely time practicing and relaxing at Copacabana beach when she, like dozens of other athletes, arrived last month to begin preparations for this year's summer games.
Instead, within days of her first trial runs in Guanabara Bay, the venue for Olympic sailing, Noceti-Klepacka found herself in the hospital with a MRSA infection, a flesh eating bacteria traditionally associated with low sanitation and intense human contact.
“It’s been awful” said the Olympic bronze-medalist, who is unsure whether she’ll be in shape to compete next week “I can’t imagine a more devastating thing,”
While doctors are still unsure where Noceti-Klepacka contracted the infection, many experts point to one likely source: Guanabara Bay.
“Athletes are essentially practicing and competing in raw sewage” said Dr.Carlos Terra, a professor of gastroenterology at Rio De Janeiro State University “I would not be surprised if more athletes fell ill,”
While the International Olympic Committee has offered repeated assurances that the waters of Guanabara Bay are safe for competition, both athletes and scientists are increasingly expressing concerns over the safety of sailing in the hyper-polluted bay.
Last year, an Associated Press investigation found some levels of viruses 1.7 million times levels considered hazardous to the World Health Organization.
Additionally, other Olympic venues such as Copacabana Beach, Rodrigo de Freitas Lake, as well as tourist beaches such as Ipanema, were found to be contaminated with far above the safe level of viruses such as adenovirus, which multiplies in the intestinal and respiratory systems and can cause explosive diarrhea, vomiting, and even organ failures, brain and liver diseases.
“I came early just to build up my immune system” said Nimrod Mashiah, a windsurfer representing Israel in the games “I’m more nervous about the water than I am about the competition.”
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