Personally, I've never cared that much about the Olympics. Of course I hope my country brings home the gold just like everybody else, but I would rather watch "Grey's Anatomy" than people from different countries competing in sports that I could never do due to my Taco Bell addiction.
When I heard about all of the crazy things happening in Rio, my girly shows were off and the news channel was on.
Rio was announced as the host for the 2016 Summer Olympic games seven years ago by the International Olympic Committee. Obviously, a lot can change in seven years, and it has. Rio went from having one of the fastest growing economies in the world to having an unemployment rate of almost 11 percent.
As if the economic crisis wasn't bad enough, there are numerous amounts of problems that make Rio an unsafe place for not only it's own citizens but for the Olympic athletes traveling there. Zika Virus, increased police brutality, and water/air pollution are all problems that our athletes will have to worry about during this years Summer games.
Common safety of this years Olympic athletes is a huge concern. Two Australian athletes were robbed, the Olympic village was reported to be "uninhabitable" by multiple countries, and funding for the sites of the games is low, meaning they will be unstable and unsafe for athletes.
With all of these things happening, I think this is a perfect example of why the Olympics should only be held in first world countries. With that being said, I'm not being insensitive or blaming Rio for their struggles. I, along with everyone else (especially the athletes families), think that safety should be the main focus in these types of situations.
Along with safety, these athletes have trained for years to reach the pinnacle of athletic performance, so they shouldn't have to live in these situations while they're trying to do their job. This can put a strain on their health and their performance during the Olympics, and I think everyone can agree that their years of training shouldn't be wasted because of something that could be changed by the International Olympic Committee. I mean, if you studied for a test for hours just to show up to the test site and it was full of distractions, you would be upset and your focus would be ruined, meaning your test grade wouldn't be as high as it could have been if you were just given better testing conditions.
Rio might have been able to afford the 2016 Summer Olympics seven years ago, but they simply can't anymore, and the safety of our Olympic athletes is in danger because of it.
As of now, no plans of postponing the 2016 Summer Olympic games or moving them to another place have been announced.
