2016 Olympics – News Stories About 2016 Olympics - Page 5

Olympic Officials
to US Athletes:
Skip Rio if Zika
Scares You

Feb 8, 2016 10:30 AM CST

Olympic Officials to US Athletes: Skip Rio if Zika Scares You

USOC delivers message to American sports federations, says Reuters

(Newser) - If the US medal count is lower than normal at the Summer Olympics this year, blame mosquitoes. The United States Olympic Committee has spread the word to American athletes: If the Zika virus worries them, they should skip the Games in Brazil, reports Reuters . The message came in a conference...

IOC: We Want
Refugee Athletes
at 2016 Olympics

Oct 27, 2015 12:22 PM CDT

IOC: We Want Refugee Athletes at 2016 Olympics

It's the first time refugees will be allowed to compete without a home country

(Newser) - Refugees have never been allowed to go for Olympic gold because they can't represent the countries they've fled from. Now they're going to get their shot, thanks to a decision by the International Olympic Committee to allow "highly qualified" refugees to take part in the Summer...

Woman Killed After GPS Takes Her to Wrong Street

Oct 6, 2015 12:00 PM CDT

Woman Killed After GPS Takes Her to Wrong Street

Regina Murmura, 70, was shot in Brazil slum and died in hospital

(Newser) - GPS directions might at times drive you insane, but one woman was actually driven to her death in Brazil. Travel agent Regina Murmura, 70, and her husband Francisco, 69, were aiming for a Niteroi beach on Avenue Quintino Bocaiuva on Saturday when their Waze GPS app directed them to Quintino...

US Olympians Get Sick, Blame Rio's Gross Waters

Aug 11, 2015 9:00 AM CDT

US Olympians Get Sick, Blame Rio's Gross Waters

Doc, coach think team members' illness caused by pollution at 2016 Games site

(Newser) - Concerns about contaminated waters in Rio de Janeiro, site of next summer's Olympics, took a new turn yesterday as 13 rowers and four staff members from the US rowing team contracted stomach illness after competing in a competition held in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, a future Olympic site,...

Brazil Pulls 50 Tons of Dead Fish From Olympic Waters

Brazil Pulls
50 Tons of
Dead Fish
From Lagoon

Apr 22, 2015 4:55 AM CDT

Brazil Pulls 50 Tons of Dead Fish From Lagoon

Olympic athletes advised not to fall out of canoes

(Newser) - Vast numbers of dead fish have been hauled out of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro over the last couple of weeks, and authorities are pretty sure they haven't died of excitement about the Olympic rowing and canoeing events to be held there next year. Dozens...

Super-Bacteria Found
in Olympic Event Waters

Dec 16, 2014 5:30 AM CST

Super-Bacteria Found in Olympic Event Waters

Bug could be a danger to Rio 2016 athletes

(Newser) - If fighting off "super-bacteria" was an Olympic sport, Rio de Janeiro could be an ideal place to hold the 2016 Games. Instead, it is looking like a pretty dangerous place to hold sailing and windsurfing events, according to a health institute. Researchers say a super-bug normally found in hospital...

In Rio's Olympic Waters: Sewage, Corpses

In Rio's Olympic Waters:
Corpses, Sewage

May 19, 2014 11:41 AM CDT

In Rio's Olympic Waters: Corpses, Sewage

Rio has a long way to go in clean up of Guanabara Bay

(Newser) - With the clock ticking on Rio's 2016 Olympics and tongues wagging about its lack of preparedness , the New York Times today turns to a rather disgusting item on the Games' checklist that Brazil seems to have missed: Guanabara Bay, the site of the sailing and windsurfing events. Despite Brazil'...

Rio's Olympic
Planning 'Worst'
I've Ever Seen:
IOC Official

Apr 29, 2014 6:41 AM CDT

Rio's Olympic Planning 'Worst' I've Ever Seen: IOC Official

But 'there is no plan B': vice president

(Newser) - Brazil's efforts ahead of the 2016 Olympics are "the worst" International Olympic Committee VP John Coates has "ever experienced," he says. Construction of some venues hasn't even started, Coates notes, and IOC officials have been forced to join local organizers to plan the Games. The...

Tiny Protests Explode
as 200K Brazilians Rage

Jun 18, 2013 7:23 AM CDT

Tiny Protests Explode as 200K Brazilians Rage

Anti-government protesters take to streets in 8 cities

(Newser) - What began as a protest over a small hike in bus fares has mushroomed into a massive protest movement sweeping Brazil. Up to 200,000 anti-government protesters marched in at least eight cities across the country yesterday, voicing their anger at corruption, high taxes, and poor public services, Reuters reports....

Brazil: Tourist Raped,
Robbed on Rio Minibus

Apr 1, 2013 12:03 AM CDT

Brazil: Tourist Raped, Robbed on Rio Minibus

2 arrested after horrific attack on couple

(Newser) - Police in Rio de Janiero have arrested two men—including the driver—after a foreign tourist was raped on a minibus, the BBC reports. Police say the suspects told other passengers to leave the bus before they raped the woman repeatedly. Her boyfriend was handcuffed and badly beaten. The suspects...

Brazil Raids Rio's Largest Slum

Nov 13, 2011 6:29 AM CST

Brazil Raids Rio's Largest Slum

Rocinha slum called vital for World Cup, Olympic security

(Newser) - Upwards of 2,000 members of the Brazilian police and military, backed by armored vehicles and helicopters, swept through Rio's biggest slum before dawn today, in the biggest anti-gang action since last November , reports the AP . But unlike the previous raid, which was precipitated by a rash of gang...

NBC Wins Olympics Until 2020

Jun 8, 2011 3:30 AM CDT

NBC Wins Olympics Until 2020

Broadcaster pays $4.38B for rights to 4 Olympics

(Newser) - NBC Universal has outbid rivals to win the US rights to broadcast the four Olympics after London 2012. The Comcast company's $4.38 billion bid included $2 billion to broadcast the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 summer Games in Rio de Janiero. Rival bidder Fox...

Rio Cops Storm Gang Haven

Nov 28, 2010 11:33 AM CST

Rio Cops Storm Gang Haven

Crackdown on longtime crime center

(Newser) - Hundreds of Brazilian police stormed a Rio slum today in a war-zone scene aimed at reclaiming longtime gang turf ahead of the city's 2016 Olmpiad, reports the AP. Backed by helicopters and armored vehicles, the police said they quickly overran several hundred gang members and seized huge stashes of guns...

Rio Cops Try to Reclaim Gang-Ruled Slums

Nov 24, 2010 3:34 PM CST

Rio Cops Try to Reclaim Gang-Ruled Slums

City begins long cleanup ahead of 2016 Olympics

(Newser) - Now that Brazil has won its bid for the 2016 Olympics, the housecleaning has begun. Police mounted intense raids on shantytowns that have been co-opted as operating bases by gangs. Ten suspected criminals were killed in gunfights with police, the AP reports. The overall plan is to push the gangs...

Bad Weather Blamed
for Brazil Blackout

Nov 11, 2009 6:17 PM CST

Bad Weather Blamed for Brazil Blackout

60M affected after wind, rain knock out transmission lines

(Newser) - Heavy rain and strong wind last night caused blackouts that left nearly a third of Brazilians—60 million people—in the dark, officials said today as they scrambled to restore confidence in the country's infrastructure before soccer's 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The weather made transformers on a...

Gangs Down
Police Chopper
as Rio Burns

2016 Olympics

Oct 18, 2009 9:35 AM CDT

Gangs Down Police Chopper as Rio Burns

But Brazil says it's working on security issues for 2016 Games

(Newser) - Brazilian officials are insisting security won't be a problem for its just-won 2016 Olympics despite drug-gang violence that plunged Rio de Janeiro into a day of bloody chaos that saw gangs shoot down a police helicopter, killing two cops and injuring four. The hourslong turf war between rival gangs in...

IOC OKs Golf,
Rugby for
Rio Games

Oct 9, 2009 10:52 AM CDT

IOC OKs Golf, Rugby for Rio Games

Golfers, ruggers seek Olympic gold in 2016 for first time in 100 years or more

(Newser) - Medals for golf and rugby will be awarded at the 2016 Olympics for the first time in a century or more. The IOC voted today to reinstate the sports for the Rio de Janeiro games and provisionally accepted them for the 2020 Olympiad. Golf has not been played at the...

US Olympics Chief Will
Step Down

Oct 7, 2009 12:15 PM CDT

US Olympics Chief Will Step Down

Streeter's decision follows Chicago bid, no-confidence vote

(Newser) - With the sting of Chicago's loss still fresh, the acting chief of the US Olympic Committee has decided to step down before being pushed out. Stephanie Streeter said today she will not seek the job on a permanent basis and will leave by March. The decision comes five days after...

Congrats, Rio; Now Get to Work

Oct 4, 2009 12:53 PM CDT

Congrats, Rio; Now Get to Work

Brazil has some serious cleaning to get ready for 2016 Olympics

(Newser) - Rio de Janeiro waltzed into Copenhagen on Friday, elbowed a couple of superpowers aside, whispered in the IOC's ear, and made off with the 2016 Olympics. But now in the cold light of day, Brazil has some serious roll-up-the-sleeves work to do. Its onetime oceanside gem now hangs on a...

Olympics Defeat: How
Much Does It Hurt Obama?

Oct 3, 2009 8:44 AM CDT

Olympics Defeat: How Much Does It Hurt Obama?

(Newser) - It's a big disappointment for Chicago, but how big a hit was yesterday's Olympic Committee put-down of the US's 2016 bid for the president, who stuck his neck out to go to bat for it? Of course Rush Limbaugh said it was huge, the "worst day" of Obama's presidency,...