The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 18 | Issue 5 | Number 4 | Article ID 5363 | Mar 01, 2020

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Did the 2016 Olympics change Rio de Janeiro? Not Much - AtLeast Not for the Good

Stephen Wade

Abstract: The International OlympicCommittee and local Olympic organizerspromised that the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympicswould change the South American city. Almostall the promises were broken despite Brazilspending at least $13 billion to organize thegames, with some estimates suggesting $20billion. The Olympics turned into lucrative realestate deals for several billionaire developers.It did manage to drive the construction of a $3billion metro-line extension, but estimates sayit cost 25% more than it should have. Mostlythe Rio games were scarred by scandals andleft a city, starkly divided by rich and poor,pretty much as it was with a few cosmeticchanges.

International Olympic Committee PresidentThomas Bach lowered the curtain on the 2016Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with these words,spoken at the closing ceremony before a selloutat the 78,000-seat Maracana Stadium.

“These Olympic games are leaving a uniquelegacy for generations to come. History willtalk about a Rio de Janeiro before and a muchbetter Rio de Janeiro after the Olympic Games.”

Maracana Stadium

He stood on a stage with local organizingcommittee president Carlos Nuzman, who alsoheaded the Brazilian Olympic Committee.Nuzman was a powerful IOC member wholanded the games for Rio, and Bach called hima “dear colleague and friend” during thespeech as he made another pledge. Nuzmanhad often repeated the same pitch, comparingRio to the rebirth that Barcelona is creditedwith getting from the 1992 Olympics. RioMayor Eduardo Paes, who hoped to ride theOlympics to a state governorship and even thenational presidency echoed the same themeand was the IOC’s main go-to-guy. As an aside,Paes was badly defeated in 2018 in a run forRio state governor, soiled by the Olympicfallout.

“We will continue to stay at your side afterthese Olympic Games,” Bach said. “We arrivedin Brazil as guests. Today we depart as yourfriends. You will have a place in our heartsforever.”

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That was Aug. 21, 2016. The next morning at a“thank-you breakfast,” Bach awarded the“Olympic Order in Gold” to both Nuzman andPaes. “My heart is full of gratefulness, my heartis full of thanks,” Bach said, draping them withgold-leaf necklaces adorned with the fiveOlympic rings.

As far as it’s known, Bach has not returned toRio de Janeiro since then, and there are goodreasons. Rio is not a legacy the IOC talks muchabout, nor one Bach wants to revisit. Two yearsbefore the Rio Olympics opened, IOC vicepresident John Coates, who had already beenon a half-dozen visits to Brazil with a team ofIOC inspectors, said the preparations for Riowere “the worst I have ever experienced.”Things of course improved and the Olympicstook place. Except during wartime, they alwayshave. Nowadays, that’s because television paysbillions for broadcast rights and demands it.There is no doubt the IOC was relieved to getout of town alive before the Paralympic openedthree weeks later. Bach did not return for theclosing ceremony of the Paralympics, either.

The Rio Olympics were scarred by scandals,land deals to build Olympic projects thatdisplaced thousands of the poor, dangerouslevels of viral and bacterial pollution inwaterways used for Olympic events, the Zikavirus, and many myths - that’s the mild word -about what the Olympics would do for LatinAmerica’s most populous country. As a closingact, the local organizing committee needed amulti-million dollar government bailout in orderto run the Paralympics. Save for minorcosmetic changes that included a $3 billionmetro line extension that state auditors saidcost 25% more than it should have, a cityfractured by mountains and searing inequalityremained much the same. Many blame graftamong politicians and construction companiesfor the overbilling, which also was reported onseveral Olympic-related projects. Predictably,construction costs soared as the Olympicsapproached and deadlines had to be met.

The Olympics took place largely in the southand west of the city, which is largely white andwell-off. The rest of Rio is a hodgepodge ofdilapidated factories, hillside slums, and someprosperous pockets with the threat of violentcrime around any corner. Crime was mostlyhidden away during the Olympics but spikedafterward, driven by a grinding recession andstepped-up security that vanished after thegames ended.

Favela in Rio

Exactly one year after the Olympics closed, Iinterviewed Igor Silverio alongside the newport built for the Olympics, anchored by thegleaming-white “Museum of Tomorrow” byfuturist Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.The renovation that was centered on PlazaMaua may have been the best legacy of thegames. Igor was there kicking a soccer ballaround with his two children. He lived in anearby favela and said the port area was vastlyimproved over the same area that in his youthwas known for decay and drunkenness.

“For sure it’s better,” he said. But he added he“expected more from the Olympics.”

“From my point of view, the Olympics onlybenefited the foreigners. Local peoplethemselves didn’t get much. The securitysituation isn’t good, the hospitals. I think these

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are investments that didn’t benefit many localpeople.” He said he skipped attending Olympicevents because they were “too expensive” andlocated far away in the suburbs.

Standing outside a new subway line a yearafter the Olympics closed, domestic worked IsaTrajano Fernandes said public transportationhad improved but was still poor. “When theOlympics were going on it was better, but theylet it slide,” she said.

Embarassment and Missed Opportunity

The Rio Olympics were a missed opportunityfor Brazil and an embarrassment for the IOC,although they were met with euphoria onCopacabana Beach with 50,000 peoplecheering when they were awarded in 2009 inCopenhagen. President Luiz Inacio Lula daSilva was among those celebrating in Denmark,crying as he hugged soccer legend Pele.

“Now we are going to show the world we canbe a great country,” Lula said.

Brazil is a fascinating and friendly country, butit did not acquit itself well as it prepared forthe Olympics, drawing unwanted attention toits defects rather than the kind of “fawning,soft coverage” it might have expected from anevent like the Olympics. I mean, who could beagainst the Olympics? That’s what localorganizers and politicians must have thought asthey sought the games.

Less than two months after the games ended,Nuzman was arrested and jailed briefly in avote-buying scheme. More than three yearslater his trial in Brazil remains in the hearingphase, creeping through the country’s taintedjudicial system. Brazil ian and Frenchauthorities allege that Nuzman helped directabout $2 million in bribes to African IOCmembers in order to land votes for Rio in theelection in Denmark. The Tokyo Olympics have

been embroiled in a similar scandal that forcedthe resignation in 2019 of Japanese OlympicCommittee President Takeda Tsunekazu.

Takeda Tsunekazu, Abe Shinzo and InoseNaoki seal deal for 2020 Olympics

Former Rio de Janeiro state governor SergioCabral _ another fervent Olympic booster _ hasbeen jailed and convicted on 12 counts ofcorruption. He told a Brazilian federal judgethat Nuzman, in fact, directed $4 million inbribes. Nuzman has denied any wrongdoing.Court filings say Nuzman had undeclaredassets in Switzerland, including 16 gold barsweighting one kilogram each. Prosecutorsestimated his net worth had increased 457% inhis last 10 years as the head of the BrazilianOlympic Committee.

At the time of his arrest late in 2016, Nuzman’sorganizing committee was reported to still owecreditors between $30-40 million, and many ofthe projects built for the Olympics were linkedto a corruption scandal that blanketed thecountry. Prosecutor Fabiana Schenider said the“Olympic Games were used as a big trampolinefor acts of corruption.”

“While Olympic medalists chased their dreamsof gold medals, leaders of the Brazilian OlympicCommittee stashed their gold in Switzerland,”she added.

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Brazil says it spent about $13 billion toorganize the Olympics in a mix of public andprivate money, though some estimates suggestit was $20 billion. Amazingly, these were billedas low-cost Olympics after Beijing spent morethan $40 billion in 2008 and Sochi poured out$51 billion for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Rio’s Olympics left behind a half-dozen emptysports venues without tenants and withtaxpayers footing the bill. Rio’s Olympic Park,the center of the action four years ago, wasrecently closed for safety concerns. A judgeordered it reopened 13 days later. The park is alargely treeless expanse of concrete with littleshade and few amenities. It has staged musicconcerts, e-sports events, and a patchwork ofother events. Public schools are also using thepark, with mostly failed efforts to get theprivate sector involved.

Something Rotten in Denmark?

Scandal surfaced almost the minute that Riowas awarded the Olympics in Copenhagen.Chicago was perhaps the favorite, and had thestrongest technical bid, but was eliminated inthe first round despite the presence ofPresident Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey.The result was a shock and should haveimmediately raised red flags. Madrid and Tokyowere the other candidates. Reports blamedanti-American sentiment for Chicago’s earlyexit, and the difficult relationship that existedat the time between the U.S. OlympicCommittee and the IOC.

Rio kicked up scandals large and small. Manyinvolved real estate deals and constructioncontracts. One centered on the construction ofan Olympic golf course _ a project driven RioMayor Eduardo Paes _ that was carved out of aprotected nature reserve in a country wherealmost no one plays golf. In fact, Rio alreadyhad two courses, and one could have beenrenovated for the Olympics. The project was

slowed by environmental lawsuits and the start-and-stop financing of a Brazilian billionaire,who was also a political supporter of the mayor.In a deal with the city, billionaire developerPasquale Mauro spent a reported $20 million tobuild the course in exchange for permission tobuild more than 100 multi-million-dollarapartments on some of Rio’s most desirablereal estate. The mayor managed to slip throughlegislation just before Christmas in 2012,setting in motion the construction.

Olympic Golf course under construction

The course was designed by American golfarchitect Gil Hanse, a layout with undulatingfairways that bumped up against scrublandbrimming with wildflowers and nesting owls.The course design won wide praise, thoughHanse told me early in the project that he wasfrustrated with delays and wasn’t getting paidon time by the Mauro family. The course wasbilled as the first public championship-levelcourse in the country. Known as “Riserva Golf,”condos featured luxury apartment towersresplendent in glass, marble and chrome in theRio suburb of Barra da Tijuca. Initial priceswere listed at between $2.5-7 million. A smallgroup of determined protesters, callingthemselves “Golfe Para Quem” (Golf For

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Whom), were often posted on Avenida Americajust outside the venue. Some likened building agolf course in Rio to building a bullring inFinland.

Paes brushed if off.

“I think during the Olympic games there’salways going to be a lot of controversy,” Paessaid at the course opening in 2015, standingnext to Mauro as he called the course “a greatenvironmental legacy.”

Carlos Carvalho, another real estate magnateand a political supporter of the mayor, got thego-ahead to develop the Olympic Village, acomplex of 3,600 apartments that was to besold off after the games. Alberto Murray Neto,a lawyer and a former member of the BrazilianOlympic Committee, told me several times byphone from Sao Paulo that the Rio Olympics“were nothing more than a real estate deal.”Murray was a long-time, outspoken critic ofNuzman, and Murray’s grandfather _ Sylvio deMagalhaes Padilha _ was a former IOC vicepresident and an IOC member from Brazil foralmost 40 years.

An ugly scandal played out when IOC memberPatrick Hickey of Ireland was arrested in Brazilon charges of scalping valuable tickets duringthe Olympics. Hickey was taken into custody athis hotel room around dawn and held in a Riojail for several weeks. In a video he’s seenbeing taken away in his bathrobe in the raid onhis five-star hotel. He answered the door nearlynaked, but that was edited out of a video thatwent viral. Hickey denied the charges and thecase has yet to come to trial in Brazil. Hickeyhas self-suspended himself as an IOC member,but the IOC Ethics Commission has still notruled on the case. The Olympic umbrella bodyANOC _ Association of National OlympicCommittees _ put up about $400,000 in bailmoney to get Hickey out of Brazil. It has sincewritten off the loan. There were also reportsthat prosecutors wanted to question Bachabout email exchanges he had with Hickey

related to Ireland’s ticket allocation. Bach wasnot implicated in any wrongdoing, butnewspapers in Brazil have speculated this alsomay have given him another reason not toreturn to Rio and take a chance of facinginvestigators.

It’s worth noting that the roughly 100 IOCmembers like Hickey receive per diems ofbetween $450-900 when they are on “Olympicbusiness.” They also get first-class flights,rooms in top hotels, and are treated likediplomats or prime ministers as they movearound town during the games, often inchauffeured cars. Bach receives no salary andis listed technically as a “volunteer.” He doesreceive a yearly “indemnity” of about $250,000and has his Swiss taxes paid for him _ $121,000listed in 2018 IOC report _ as well asaccommodations in a luxury Swiss hotel. Bycontrast, organizers used 70,000 unpaidvolunteers in Rio, and will use about 80,000 inTokyo. By not paying this work force, even aminimum wage of $10 per hour, the IOC savesan estimated $100 million, maybe more.Olympic officials acknowledge they would notrun the Olympics without the volunteers. JoelMaxcy, the president of the InternationalAssociation of Sports Economists who teachesat Drexel University, told me “it’s very clearlyeconomic exploitation.” Maxcy described asituation in which volunteers assembled theproduct but “someone else is collecting nearlyall of the money derived from those laborefforts.”

Grading the Sporting Part: Maybe a C+

The sporting part of the Rio Olympics wasgraded as a relative success. Brazil’s men’ssoccer team won the gold medal, the onlymajor championship it lacked, and star Neymarcried as he kissed the ball. American gymnastSimone Biles won four gold medals, andJamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won three moregolds. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

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made a cameo appearance at the closingceremony, showing up as computer gamecharacter Super Mario. The sports and thecolor are always a hit and temporarily distractfrom the cost of putting on the show, and whois making all the money; not many of theathletes. I recall giving the games a C+ gradein an interview on Canadian television. Thatseemed about right. It might have been higher,but there were often too many empty seats atthe venues. And there were other “glitches,” asorganizers often called the problems. Duringthe games, a bullet fired from a nearby slum _called a favela in Brazil _ ripped through a tentat the equestrian venue. Nobody was injured.The swimming pools used for water polo anddiving turned bottle-green when organizersapparently mixed chlorine with hydrogenperoxide. And a camera suspended by cables inthe Olympic Park, where thousands werestrolling around, fell and injured two.

Despite the problems, most residents of Riowere proud when the games finally happened,defying all odds. There was a general sense ofrelief that the country had pulled off SouthAmerica’s first Olympics.

“I think the Olympics and Paralympics were aboost to the self-esteem of Brazil,” MauricioSantoro, an international relations expert toldme. “They happened when everything wasgoing so bad in Brazil. The mere fact theyhappened without serious problems, without aninfrastructure disaster, without a terroristattack, made Brazil feel better about itself.”

The bar for success was very low.

Both the Olympics and 2014 World Cup wereawarded at a time when Brazil was portrayedas a rising power. But the country slipped intoa deep recession as the shows were beingreadied. The Olympics and World Cup can’t beblamed for all of Brazil’s problems, but they didexpose the danger of hosting these large eventsin a country that lacks so many of the basics.And the IOC can be faulted for looking the

other way and, in fact, encouraging Brazilianpoliticians to splurge on white elephant sportsvenues. And of course, the corruption defilesthe IOC, which talks about promoting virtueslike fairness, equality, and self-sacrifice. Thesame was true for FIFA, the world governing ofbody of soccer. Brazil used 12 new orrenovated stadiums for the 2014 World Cup _FIFA required only eight _ which guaranteedwhite elephants. Politicians from all over thecountry wanted a stadium, and the corruptleadership of the Brazi l ian Footbal lConfederation was happy to oblige. Three ofthe most recent presidents _ Ricardo Teixeira,Jose Maria Marin, and Marco Polo Del Nero _were scoundrels. Teixeira was found guilty oftaking bribes and money laundering andresigned for “health reasons.” FIFA banned himfrom the game for life. Marin was arrested inSwitzerland and served time in the UnitedStates for wire fraud, money laundering andracketeering. Del Nero was also banned for lifefrom the game by FIFA, accused of bribery andmoney laundering.

The stadiums were built in some cities that didnot even have top teams, or barely anyprofessional teams at all. The city of Cuiaba inthe far west of Brazil comes to mind. Thecapital of the depopulated state of MatoGrosso, Cuiaba was reported at the time tohave 29 million head of cattle _ 10 times thehuman population. There was money for asoccer stadium, but not much for health care. Ivisited a cinderblock clinic just a short walkfrom the stadium. It was overflowing with 30patients sitting inside and outside a swelteringwaiting room. “Ordinary people have beenforgotten,” Evone Pereira Barbosa, a maidwaiting outside, told me. “They invested a lot inthe World Cup and forgot the people.”

Despite all the misconduct and impropriety, theWorld Cup and the Olympics presented anopportunity to write about Brazil’s brutalhistory of race and slavery, which much of theworld knows little about. It was possible to

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draw readers into what looked like a sportsstory, and then talk about something else. Forinstance, Brazil imported about 5 millionAfrican slaves, which is 10 times more than theUnited States. And it abolished slavery in 1888,25 years after the United States. Slavery iscritical to understanding modern Brazil, whichis often portrayed incorrectly as a racialdemocracy. It’s difficult to define who is blackin Brazil, though one researcher of color toldme it’s “easily understood if you try walkinginto a top-class restaurant.” Many Braziliansself-identify. Two people of similar skin tonesmay identify differently. One as black. One aswhite. In a famous case, two identical twinsapplied for university admission under anaffirmative-action program. Only one wasjudged by admission officials to be black. In afamous survey done in 1976, people were askedto describe their skin colors and came up with136 variations _ from brown to cinnamon towheat and 133 other shades.

Lots of Attention; Much Unwanted

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff was removedfrom office in an impeachment trial just daysafter the Olympics closed. A billion-dollarcorruption scandal was buffeting the state-directed oil company Petrobras at the time. Thecorruption probe into Petrobras _ known asLava Jato in Portuguese, or Car Wash inEnglish _ caught many of the country’s largestcompanies paying bribes to politicians to getcontracts from Petrobras. The constructiongiant Odebrecht, which had its hands in manyof the Olympic projects, was among thosegetting contracts.

President Dilma Rousseff (in green shirt)before her ouster

Only a handful of world leaders attended theRio Olympics, compared to about 100 in 2012in London. And Brazil’s reputation, instead ofgetting a boost, probably suffered as theOlympics focused unwanted attention onunderfunded schools, endemic racism, andunderstaffed hospitals, and raised questionsabout the priorities of politicians and the IOC.It also made clear the way politicians can usethe Olympics to rally support, allowing them tooverlook real priorities and hide behind flagwaving and the “fun and games” of theOlympics. In the case of Rio, it meantoverlooking basics like providing publicsanitation to everyone in a city of 7 million,which is deeply divided by the wealthy in thesouth and west, and the rest living in hillsideshanties or sprawling encampments neargarbage dumps.

It seems impossible that a city chosen for asporting jewel like the Olympics would lackbasic sanitation for millions. Rio dumps morethan 50% of its untreated waste _ someestimates were as high as 70% _ into the city’sfamous Guanabara Bay, which is framed by theChrist the Redeemer statue and Sugar LoafMountain.

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Glorious Rio viewed from above

The Olympics and the World Cup weresupposed to focus attention on the problem andhelp solve it. In Rio’s Olympic bid, it promisedto improve the situation. It didn’t. “It was awasted opportunity,” Mayor Paes, in a fewmoments of candor, acknowledged more thanonce. It was a problem the IOC overlooked, andoften defended. A year before the Olympicsopened, Nawal El Moutawakel, a gold-medalMoroccan hurdler in 1984 who headed the IOCinspection team for Rio, was asked if she wouldswim in the bay.

“We will dive in together,” El Moutawakel said,grinning and pointing to other IOC officials shesaid would take the plunge with her.

Olympic sailing was eventually held in the baywith sailors forced to dodge floating debris thatcould include dead animal carcasses. As astopgap, government helicopters using GPSflew overhead on competition days to spotmassive flows of detritus carried by the tide.Trash boats below were dispatched to rake inthe rubbish, and sailors also got notice aboutwhat was out there and how to avoid it.Organizers also built dams to catch garbage asit flowed down from hillside favelas headed forthe bay. Of course, the barriers could not catchhuman waste, and several reports said hospitalwaste was being dumped into the water.

Sailors talked openly about seeing deadanimals floating in the water, maneuvers tododge water-logged sofas, and joked with blackhumor about “the science” of untangling plasticbags from rudders and center boards.

Rio’s Toxic Tide

“I think no sailor feels comfortable sailinghere,” Ivan Bulaja, a former Olympian and anAustrian sailing coach, told me. “I guess youcould get seriously ill.”

The open sewer also produced great quotes forreporters looking for descriptive material.

“At low tide it smells like sewage water. Itsmells like a toilet,” Austrian sailor NikolasResch told me. He was fourth in the LondonOlympics in the 49er class with teammate NicoDella Karth. “You see people going for a swim. Iwould never, under free will, go into the waterhere.”

Allan Norregaard won a bronze medal in 2012for Denmark. He described sailors jumping intothe water and coming out with red dots on theirbodies.

“I have sailed around the world for 20 yearsand this is the most polluted place I have everseen,” he said. “I don’t know what’s in thewater, but it’s definitely not healthy.” Other

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sailors routinely termed it an “open sewer” andMario Moscatelli, a Brazilian biologist andenvironmentalist, used more formal language.”

“It’s a latrine,” he said.

Just days before the Olympics opened, Rio’swaterways were as filthy as ever, contaminatedwith raw sewage teeming with dangerousviruses and bacter ia . I t was a l l wel ldocumented in a 16-month study by theAssociated Press. An open sewer ran by themain press center for the Olympics, and thestench was unmistakable. The same was truefor the Athletes Village, which also had an opensewer located just a one-minute walk from anentrance to the village. And all visitors to Riode Janeiro know the smell of raw sewage that’sconstant on a taxi ride from Rio’s internationalairport Galeao to the center of the city, or tothe Copacabana and Ipanema areas in thesouth.

The first results of the AP study published ayear before the Olympics showed viral levels insome Rio waterway at levels up to 1.7 milliontimes “what would be worrisome” in the UnitedStates or Europe. It was difficult to documenthow many athletes got ill, and only a few caseswere reported. Teams shied away from talkingabout it, and athletes tried not to be distracted.It’s clear that rowers, sailors, distanceswimmers, and triathletes took precautions,preventatively taking antibiotics, bleachingrowing oars, and wearing plastic suits andgloves in a bid to limit contact with the water.

A biomedical expert quoted by AP had thisadvice for travelers to Rio. “Don’t put yourhead under water.”

Rio is a spectacular-looking city in some parts,and it showed up well on television for theOlympic audience. Which is one reason it waschosen. From a distance, Guanabara Bay ismajestic as it flows into the Atlantic alongsideSugar Loaf Mountain. Networks like NBC in theUnited States, which pays about $1 billion for

the broadcast rights to each Olympics, lovedthe backdrops that included Copacabana andIpanema beaches. By the way, areas ofCopacabana and Ipanema also have seriouswater pollution problems, and Copa is wheremany TV networks set up studios for theirbroadcasts. Through the miracle of television,every Olympics look pretty much the same frominside a venue _ say a basketball arena, or asoccer stadium, or the venue for swimming.They are like studio sets and could be locatedalmost anywhere.

“The Olympics have become more sponsor-andtelevision-driven,” David Wallechinsky,president of the International Society ofOlympic Historians, told me. “In Rio, it was amess. Yet on television it looked fine. Let’s faceit, 99% of the people who follow the Olympicsdo so on TV. So whatever you present them onTV is reality, though those of us on the groundsee a different reality.”

Wallechinsky, who is one of the foremostauthorities on the Olympics, called the failureto clean Guanabara Bay a scandal. He saidRio’s godsend was its friendly people and thefact that sensational sporting performances andnationalism usually overshadow otherproblems, at least during the 17 days of thegames and for a few weeks after.

“I don’t think the International OlympicCommittee is going to go to a developing cityany longer,” he said. “They don’t want thatanymore. They want cites that are ready.”

That’s why Tokyo was chosen, billing itself inBuenos Aires as “A Safe Pair of Hands” when itwas picked in 2013.

Paralympics Almost Don’t Happen

The Paralympics with over 4,000 athletesopened three weeks after the Olympics closed.It took its own beating. Organizers began

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slashing budgets everywhere in the monthsbefore the Olympics. In fact, they literally ranout of money to run the Paralympic Games.Sidney Levy, the CEO of the organizingcommittee, told Paralympic organizers just afew weeks before that there was no money leftto run the Paralympics. It shocked everybody.

“This is the worst situation that we’ve evenfound ourselves in at the Paralympicmovement,” Philip Carven, the president of theInternational Paralympic Committee, told me.“We were aware of difficulties, but we weren’taware it was a critical as this.”

At the time the Rio city government promisedabout $46 million in a bailout and the nationalgovernment said it would guarantee another$30 million.

Bach got caught up in the mess and, at thepress conference the day before the Olympicsclosed, flatly denied there was any publicmoney being used to patch up the local,privately funded operating budget. This wasnot accurate, but fooled many reporters fromout of town who didn’t take time to check thefacts.

“There is no public money in the organizationof these Olympic Games,” Bach said the daybefore the Olympics closed. “The budget of theorganizing committee is privately financed.There is no public funding for this.”

A federal agency for Olympic legacy in 2017put the cost of the Rio Olympics at about $13.2billion. Most of that was public money exceptfor a $2.8 billion privately funded operatingbudget. And it needed public money at the end,too.

A Brazilian named Mario Andrada had the jobfor several years of handling the media, tryingto explain Rio’s problems. He was alwaysavailable and kept a sense of humor most of thetime. He gave me a lead once on the fact that

450,000 condoms would be distributed at theOlympics. That story, of course, got good play _and not just in the tabloids. That’s 40-45condoms per athlete over 17 days. The condomdistribution machines at the Olympic Villageread: “Celebrate with a Condom” in Englishand several other languages.

Mario also came up with the best quote duringthe Olympics. He tried to explain the greenwater in the diving and water polo pool, talkingabout the chemical imbalance in the water. Anative speaker of Portuguese with strongEnglish, he still got his words twisted.

“Chemistry isn’t an exact science,” he said,speaking to hundreds of reporters from aroundthe world. In fact, it is an exact science. Whathe meant to say was: “Chemistry is an exactscience, and we got it wrong.”

Andrada usually talked freely, which Iappreciated. But he also acknowledged anotherreality.

“I usually say too much because I can’t alwaysget the right word in English. The press lovesme.”

We did, and we loved his quotes.

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I reported from Rio de Janeiro for 4 and halfyears for the news agency Associated Press.What’s compiled here is almost entirely frommy own report ing with help from APcolleagues; a compilation of hundreds of storiesassembled as Brazil was organizing the WorldCup and Olympics. Associated Press gave methe privilege of reporting from Brazil, whichbecame a full-immersion course in the country.I am grateful for being able to use sports as awindow into wider themes. Brazilians werealmost always gracious, forgiving of myatrocious Portuguese, and open to explainingtheir continent-size country.

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This article is a part of the Special Issue: Japan’s Olympic Summer Games -- Past andPresent, Part II. See the Table of Contents here.

Stephen Wade is a sports writer and correspondent for the news agency Associated Press.He has covered about a dozen Olympics and soccer World Cups dating from the 2002 WinterOlympics in Salt Lake City. Wade has been posted in seven countries with AP, often writingabout the intersection of sports and politics. He was in Beijing for 2 and half years as Chinareadied the 2008 Olympics, followed by 4 and half years in Rio de Janeiro to cover the 2014World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. He’s now based in Japan for this year’s Tokyo Olympics,and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. He has a BA and MA in political science from theUniversity of Missouri-St. Louis.

swade@ap.org