Give the Rio Olympics a chance

Even though the grand opening ceremony is on Friday, the Rio Olympics actually start today, as has become customary with so many sports to fit into the fortnight of events  Something else has become customary about this four-yearly contest of international sporting excellence - advance sniping at the facilities and organization of the event. This criticism hit its stride in Athens in 2004 when construction teams were still at work even as the Summer Games began. There were absolutely no such problems with the Beijing Games in 2008, arguably the most expensive, spectacular and successful ever staged.  Then it was back to touch and go for the London Olympics four years ago. But as usual the British managed to muddle through with a cut-price “austerity” Games that made up for what they lacked in Beijing-style spectacle with cleverness and humor.  When in 2009 it was announced that Rio had won the bid to stage this year’s Olympics, Brazil was a very different country. Economically, it was on a roll. With Russia, India and China, it made up the BRIC group of thrusting economies that seemed destined to challenge, if not overtake, North America, Europe and Japan as the dominant commercial and financial global powers. Brazil’s greatest strength lay in its abundant offshore oil and gas resources, all under the control of the state-run company Petrobras. Foreign oil firms were scrambling to win minority participation in the technically-challenging exploitation of the vast pre-salt reserves. Both the risks and the rewards were potentially enormous. But the Brazilian government tried to drive a hard bargain, insisting for instance that foreign firms source most of their equipment from local suppliers.  One by one, the outside firms walked away. The massive financial scandals that have since engulfed Petrobras and the governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his successor Dilma Rousseff demonstrate the wisdom of  those foreign investors. Moreover, the incoherent running of Brazil’s economy was compounded by the collapse in international oil prices. Two years ago many in Brazil, after a successful World Cup, were arguing that the country could not afford the $13 billion investment in the Olympics.  That figure is suspected to have grown, perhaps significantly, as organizers have paid contractors to work multiple shifts around the clock to complete facilities. Chinese athletes are only the most vocal in protesting the inadequate facilities they have found since they arrived at the Olympic village. Bathroom facilities have collapsed, water has failed, beds have fallen apart and rooms lack electricity. Moreover, ever since international athletes began training in Rio, there have been muggings, credit card identity thefts, robberies and what appears to be an appalling lack of proper security around the competitors. There remain serious doubts about the health of sailors competing in the still heavily-polluted waters off Rio and international health experts warn about the continuing danger of the Zika virus on pregnant women. Add to all of this the running controversy of the participation of Russian athletes and it is easy to produce headlines predicting that the Rio Games will be a shambles, if not indeed a complete disaster.  This, however, is to ignore the Herculean efforts that so many Brazilians have put into making the 2016 Olympics a success. Therefore, as the Games get under way tomorrow it is surely right to reserve judgement and wish Brazil and every one of the world’s athletes taking part, the very best.