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Monday's Sports in Brief
August 2, 2016
OLYMPICS
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Just days ahead of the Olympic Games the waterways of Rio de Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by The Associated Press.
Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions, but the AP's tests indicate that tourists also face potentially serious health risks on the golden beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana.
The AP's survey of the aquatic Olympic and Paralympic venues has revealed consistent and dangerously high levels of viruses from the pollution, a major black eye on Rio's Olympic project that set off alarm bells among sailors, rowers and open-water swimmers.
Since the AP released the initial results last July, athletes have been taking elaborate precautions to prevent illnesses that could potentially knock them out of the competition, including preventatively taking antibiotics, bleaching oars and donning plastic suits and gloves in a bid to limit contact with the water.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The kidnapping of Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone's mother-in-law was allegedly planned by one of his helicopter pilots, Sao Paulo police said.
Police said Jorge Eurico da Silva Faria took care of F1 helicopter operations in Sao Paulo until 2014 but still often worked for Ecclestone in Brazil. The pilot was among three men arrested by police in connection with the kidnapping.
Police found 67-year-old Aparecida Schunck, who had been held since Friday last week, tied up but unharmed in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo on Sunday.
Schunck is the mother of Fabiana Flosi, married to Ecclestone since 2012.
Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city and the center of commerce, for decades has had problems with people being kidnapped and held for ransom, but a dedicated police task force reduced the crime over the last 15 years.
The incident came just ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Authorities say they are deploying 85,000 troops and soldiers during the Aug. 5-21 competition.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - IOC President Thomas Bach issued another defense of his handling of the Russian doping scandal, saying the decision not to exclude the entire Russian team from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics was based on human rights and justice.
Bach used his speech at the opening ceremony of the IOC's general assembly to address the continuing criticism of the Olympic body's response to evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia, declaring that individual athletes cannot be punished for the wrongdoing of their government.
''This decision is about justice,'' Bach said. ''Justice has to be independent from politics. Whoever responds to a violation of the law with another violation of the law is destroying justice.''
Rejecting calls from anti-doping bodies for a total ban on Russia, the IOC instead gave international sports federations the authority to rule on the entry of individual Russian athletes. The IOC also ruled that any Russian athletes with prior doping sanctions could not compete in the Rio Games, which open Friday.
August 2, 2016
OLYMPICS
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Just days ahead of the Olympic Games the waterways of Rio de Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study commissioned by The Associated Press.
Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting violently ill in water competitions, but the AP's tests indicate that tourists also face potentially serious health risks on the golden beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana.
The AP's survey of the aquatic Olympic and Paralympic venues has revealed consistent and dangerously high levels of viruses from the pollution, a major black eye on Rio's Olympic project that set off alarm bells among sailors, rowers and open-water swimmers.
Since the AP released the initial results last July, athletes have been taking elaborate precautions to prevent illnesses that could potentially knock them out of the competition, including preventatively taking antibiotics, bleaching oars and donning plastic suits and gloves in a bid to limit contact with the water.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The kidnapping of Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone's mother-in-law was allegedly planned by one of his helicopter pilots, Sao Paulo police said.
Police said Jorge Eurico da Silva Faria took care of F1 helicopter operations in Sao Paulo until 2014 but still often worked for Ecclestone in Brazil. The pilot was among three men arrested by police in connection with the kidnapping.
Police found 67-year-old Aparecida Schunck, who had been held since Friday last week, tied up but unharmed in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo on Sunday.
Schunck is the mother of Fabiana Flosi, married to Ecclestone since 2012.
Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city and the center of commerce, for decades has had problems with people being kidnapped and held for ransom, but a dedicated police task force reduced the crime over the last 15 years.
The incident came just ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Authorities say they are deploying 85,000 troops and soldiers during the Aug. 5-21 competition.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - IOC President Thomas Bach issued another defense of his handling of the Russian doping scandal, saying the decision not to exclude the entire Russian team from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics was based on human rights and justice.
Bach used his speech at the opening ceremony of the IOC's general assembly to address the continuing criticism of the Olympic body's response to evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia, declaring that individual athletes cannot be punished for the wrongdoing of their government.
''This decision is about justice,'' Bach said. ''Justice has to be independent from politics. Whoever responds to a violation of the law with another violation of the law is destroying justice.''
Rejecting calls from anti-doping bodies for a total ban on Russia, the IOC instead gave international sports federations the authority to rule on the entry of individual Russian athletes. The IOC also ruled that any Russian athletes with prior doping sanctions could not compete in the Rio Games, which open Friday.
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