Crime, sports storms brew at #Olympics

Security officers patrol at Sambodromo during the women's marathon.

Security officers patrol at Sambodromo during the women's marathon.

Published Aug 17, 2016

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Rio de Janeiro - The finish line is in sight for Rio, the hosts of what has been a challenging 2016 Olympic Games.

All across the city, the focus is on a final flourish at the Stadio Olimpico, for Sunday’s marathon.

In many ways, the city has been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the past two weeks, and will heave a collective sigh of relief when it is all over on Sunday.

The shock around the world when Ryan Lochte, one of America’s top swimmers, was robbed at gunpoint in Rio has seen a far heavier presence of security on the streets, on trains and around the venues.

And it is not just visitors that have been preyed on. Young student Bethania Lima, who is working for the Olympic Broadcast System, was robbed in broad daylight on a city bus.

“An older woman, probably in her 40s, came behind me on the bus, and put a knife against my back. She told me not to shout, and to empty my backpack,” Lima explained this week.

“When I told her that I was Brazilian, she said it didn’t matter, because she needed my things more than I needed them. There seems to be a sense of lawlessness now, and the final weekend of the Olympic Games will be a difficult time for police.”

Countless tales like Lima’s are going unreported, because the incidents are happening so often.

Hotels around Rio have been inundated with guests trying to contact the police, with attacks often taking place right outside the hotels. It happens quickly, and reflects the reality of poverty which hides behind Rio's glitzy tourist façade. That was the risk the International Olympic Committee took when they brought these Games to a third world country, and they will be crossing fingers in the hopes that nothing major occurs away from the sporting venues over the next five days.

Meanwhile, in the Olympic Stadium, Usain Bolt will attempt to complete the triple-crown during his final appearances on this stage, with his 200m final, and then the 4x100m relay.

Bolt knows his remarkable Olympic story is coming to an end, and judging by his apparent reserved reflections at press conferences, he seems to be drinking in the moment.

But the likelihood that he will bring home gold in all three events, before passing on the Olympic baton to another young hopeful to carry to Tokyo in 2020 is strong.

Another story that is fuelling speculation is that of South Africa’s 800m star, Caster Semenya. The South African team media liaison has been inundated with interview requests every day for months, and the politicking of International Association of Athletics Federations president, Sebastian Coe, at the start of the Games, when he questioned the legitimacy of testosterone testing on Semenya and other athletes like her, has only fanned the fire.

British and American media have been poised for their first sighting of Semenya as she goes into the heats and semi-finals. But, come the final, where she is expected to take gold, and perhaps break the world record, she will be forced to face a barrage of questions from the world's media.

The story promises to be huge, but Semenya is unlikely to be seen in the same positive light as her countryman, Wayde van Niekerk. The obsession with Semenya by large sections of the global media has bordered on abuse.

She has done nothing but play by the rules, yet her greatest moment looks set to unleash a global news frenzy, but for all the wrong reasons.

The Olympics are nearly over but, in many ways, the storm is only just beginning to build.

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