Rio 2016 Olympics: Game organisers close diving pool because of green colour & fart-like smell

Whether it’s indoor or outdoor, Rio de Janeiro could no longer hide the stink and danger posed by its water. On the same day that a female Belgian rower complained of falling sick after training in July at the poop-filled Guanabara Bay, organisers of the Summer Games had to close the diving pool which has not only turned green but also smells like a fart.

Because of the diving pool’s green colour – which changed hues on Tuesday – Olympic organisers cancelled diving training on Friday to try to restore the water’s original blue colour, reports Reuters. Whatever is causing the change in colour is apparently spreads around because the nearby pool used for synchronised swimming and water polo also started to change colour.

To bring back the blue colour, Olympic organisers tried to adjust the chemical levels at the Maria Lenk Aquatic centre. FINA, the world swimming governing body, explains the colour change to failure to treat the water after the tanks ran out of chemicals. The organisers added more chlorine, which kills algae and helps keep the colour blue, but water polo players complained of stinging eyes.

Mario Andrada, spokesman for Rio 2016, says chlorine use was reduced. He also insists the green water is no a health threat to the athletes and is undergoing regular testing by FINA, Rio 2016 and International Olympic Committee. He explains the green colour to sudden decrease in the water’s alkalinity.

But it is not just the colour that athletes are complaining about. Tom Steinfort, a German diver, tweets that not only the diving pool but “the whole building smells like a fart,” quotes the New York Post.

The Washington Post reports that there is only one diving event scheduled on Friday, the women’s three-metre springboard preliminaries slated to start at 2:30 pm. The polo matches have started as schedule and the water in the pool is blue.

VIDEO: Why the Rio Olympics Pools Turned Green

Source: Wall Street Journal