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          Mosquitoes, Not Security, Viewed as Big Rio Olympics Threat

   by Reuters

   Zika, doping and venue problems dominated the opening day of the U.S.
   Olympic Committee's media summit on Monday as officials were pushed on
   athlete health and safety for this year's Rio Olympics.

   Unlike previous Olympics where high-level security issues dominated the
   buildup to a Games, it is the mosquito-borne Zika virus creating
   jitters with the Rio Summer Games only five months away.

   Not once during a 40-minute briefing were USOC chairman Larry Probst or
   CEO Scott Blackmun asked about security but they were bombarded by
   questions about what was being done to protect the 815 U.S. competitors
   at the Olympic and Paralympic Games from the Zika virus.

   Rio officials are also dealing with concerns over the polluted waters
   where the sailing competition will take place, construction delays at
   the cycling and athletic venues, slow ticket sales and a doping lab
   that is on the verge of being declared non-compliant by the World
   Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

   But in the United States, Zika is being viewed as the biggest threat
   for Rio-bound athletes.

   The U.S. Olympic Committee is taking steps to limit any risk but said
   it will leave the final decision on whether to travel to Brazil up to
   individual competitors.

   The virus, linked to a spike in the rare birth defect microcephaly, has
   hit Brazil hard and has spread through much of Latin America and the
   Caribbean, raising concerns for athletes planning to compete in Rio De
   Janeiro, particularly those thinking of having children after the
   Games.

   "It is going to be up to each individual athlete to make his or her
   decision," said Blackmun, adding that athletes will be given mosquito
   nets and bug spray while additional medical staff could be brought on
   to deal with concerns. "We don't want to be in the business of making
   health policy."

   The doping scandal that has left Russian track and field athletes in
   Olympic limbo was also being felt in Los Angeles, as American medal
   contenders wait to see if the drug-tainted nation will be allowed to
   take part in Rio.

   WADA said on Monday that it was dismayed by revelations in a German TV
   documentary that contained fresh allegations of malpractice in Russia's
   anti-doping system.

   Russia has been suspended from international track and field in the
   wake of a report exposing widespread cheating and corruption and has
   been ordered by world athletics' governing body, the International
   Association of Athletics' Federations (IAAF), and WADA, to show
   evidence of a change of culture and practice in fighting doping.

   The country, second only to the United States in the sport's pecking
   order, will be allowed to return to competition, including this year's
   Olympics only when it can prove that it has met a series of conditions
   regarding its anti-doping operation.

   "Things just continue to be uncovered ... I'm not totally confident,"
   said Alysia Montano, an American middle distance runner who finished
   fifth at the London Olympics behind two Russian athletes facing doping
   bans. "I want to say, yes, it's going to be 100 percent clean but every
   time I try to say that, I just hope. My confidence is still a little
   thin."

   Casting another shadow over anti-doping efforts, the Brazil lab that
   will test athletes during this year's Olympics is in a race to fully
   conform to global regulations by a WADA-imposed March 18 deadline or
   have testing for the Games moved elsewhere at considerable cost.

   WADA stripped the $25 million Laboratorio Brasileiro de Controle de
   Dopagem of its accreditation in 2013 because it failed to meet required
   standards, re-instating it last year.
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   -rio-olympics-threat/3224263.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/mosquitoes-not-security-viewed-as-big-rio-olympics-threat/3224263.html