As we continue to inch our way closer and closer to the start of the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, it feels as though the host city cannot help but avoid staying out of the negative headlines.
While most of the turmoil has been focused on the state of the facilities and conditions for athletes expected to compete in the summer games, this latest story from Rio is perhaps a bit more troubling.
Two sailors (2008 gold medalist Fernando Echavarri and two-time world champion Tara Pacheco) and a coach (Santi Lopez-Vazquez) from the Spanish sailing team were assaulted in Rio de Janeio while training for the Olympics. The three were held at gunpoint by five individuals, according to the Associated Press.
“It was a very unpleasant experience,” said Lopez-Vázquez. “There were five youths with two pistols. They took all the work equipment we were carrying at that time.”
While none of the Spanish sailing athletes or coach were injured in the incident, the fact it took place in the middle of the street while going to have breakfast will sound yet another alarm for the host city and nation as it tries to pull together and prove worthy of hosting a world-class event like the Olympics.
Rio de Janeiro is already facing a plethora of national criticism and skepticism as it prepares for the games. This latest incident may just be a matter of wrong place, wrong time. Incidents like this can happen anywhere in any country. It just so happens that when it happens to Olympic athletes in the city and country hosting the games that calendar year, it is going to be magnified.
[Time]
