Every week, Rio tallies up some new drama before the upcoming games. Here are some
stories making headlines in the past days:
Rio 2016 may see a shortage of spectators and athletes, but Rio de Janeiro definitely won’t see a shortage of sex.
About 450,000 condoms will be distributed to athletes, reports Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo. The number, shattering London’s record (150,000 condoms), would allot each athletes about 42 condoms, or, really, enough condoms for 84 sexual encounters—provided at least one person uses protection.
It’s no secret the athletes love boning. Over the years, they’ve engaged in orgies, flooded Tinder and taken naked selfies with their medals, and Rio, no stranger to scant, readies to welcome the athletes with open arms and open pants.
As evidence continues to emerge of Russia’s state-sponsored doping program, a question
looms: Should the IOC ban all Russian athletes from the Rio Games?
IOC President Thomas Bach said in a release that the extent of the doping revelations were “a shocking new dimension of doping with an, until now, unprecedented level of criminality.”
Currently, Russia’s track and field athletes remain under a global ban that looks as though it’ll
keep them out of Rio. If the World Anti-Doping Agency deems the recent allegations true, more penalties are more than possible.
In recent history, only a handful of countries have been banned from the Olympics, all of which for geopolitical reasons— Afghanistan in 2000 because of Taliban discrimination against women; South Africa from 1960 to 1992 because of apartheid; Germany and Japan in 1948 after WWII.
Same family, same upbringing, same everything: One becomes a terrorist and the other
becomes an Olympian.
Mourad Laachraoui, the brother of one of the two suicide bombers who attacked Brussels
airport in March, will represent Belgium at the Games in taekwondo.
At a news conference celebrating the bid, Mourad and his family condemned the attacks and
hope to put the past behind them, “I'm not responsible for the actions of my brother. You don’t choose your family” he told Belgian public broadcaster RTBF.
Mourad and his family reportedly hadn’t been in contact with his brother Najim since 2013.
Tom is a travel writer, part-time hitchhiker, and he’s currently trying to imitate Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? but with more sunscreen and jorts.