Poor water quality threatens Olympians

A study commissioned by the Associated Press news agency has discovered that the waters in Rio de Janeiro in which athletes will be competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year are so contaminated they threaten to make those athlete's quite ill.

The study tested the waters for viral and bacterial pathogens and found high levels of both in the water, likely to be caused by raw human sewage which, in a lot of cases, is untreated in Brazil. As a result, those competing in swimming and boating events in the waters face a bigger challenge than the events themselves!

Brazilian officials have said that the water will be safe, but the government has said that it does not test for viruses.

Sailors who have already trained on the waters have complained that they have had to avoid dead animals and fish, as well as other waste floating in the water - including a discarded sofa according to one report.

In this case, the pollution not only raises serious environmental concerns; over 1,000 athletes are expected to compete in the apparently contaminated waters, threatening their health. The threat is so large that the athletes will have a 99% chance of infection if they consume just three teaspoons of water, according to Kristina Mena, an expert in risk assessment for waterborne viruses.