Great Danes eye Rio glory after Cup breakthrough

Discussion in 'Olympics 2016 - RIO' started by Loh, May 26, 2016.

  1. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Zika threat bugging Chinese shuttler Wang

    The threat of Zika at the Rio Olympics is on the mind of many athletes but few more so than China's former badminton world champion Wang Yihan, who was attacked mercilessly by insects while competing in Indonesia last week.
    • Posted 08 Jun 2016 17:20

    [​IMG] Taiwan's Tai Tzu-

    SYDNEY: The threat of Zika at the Rio Olympics is on the mind of many athletes but few more so than China's former badminton world champion Wang Yihan, who was attacked mercilessly by insects while competing in Indonesia last week.

    The svelte 28-year-old, who won silver in the women's singles at the London Games, was still smarting from red bites up and down her arms as she competed at the Australian Badminton Open in Sydney on Wednesday.

    "They're itchy," she told Reuters, lathered in sweat after a tough opening round win over Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.

    "And the sweat makes it worse.

    "I'm really not sure what kind of bugs they were. I don't think they were mosquitoes. Maybe it was on the bed that I was sleeping on.

    "I bought some cream for them, but they're still itchy."

    A number of athletes have already pulled out of the Olympics citing health risks associated with the mosquito-borne virus, which can cause crippling birth defects and development problems in babies.

    Others are declining to bring family members and loved ones with them, while Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford decided to freeze his sperm to safeguard future plans for extending his young family.

    However, the outbreak in Brazil will not stop China from unleashing its full artillery of badminton champions, who will attempt to defend their sweep of five titles at London.

    "Yes, I think everyone's been thinking about (Zika)," Wang said. "But obviously we've been told about how to be safe, wearing repellent and staying indoors and so on."

    Shanghai-born Wang is determined to go one better at Rio, having been upset in London's gold-medal decider by compatriot Li Xuerui, an unheralded player before her Olympic triumph.

    Wang's anguish upon losing the final was written large on her face and she was still gloomy as she mounted the podium next to her beaming team mate.

    "I did feel disappointed at the time, even though it was my team mate who won the gold," she said.

    "Of course it's great to get any medal but in the end, there's only one champion."

    World badminton has changed the Olympic rules so that nations can only enter two shuttlers into the singles events, which will make it harder for China to repeat their London domination.

    Wang is currently ranked third in the world, ahead of fourth-ranked Li, with the top two spots occupied by Spain's world number one Carolina Marin and Thai Ratchanok Intanon.

    China's women have traditionally dominated the singles rankings, so the variety at the top has been welcomed by badminton fans and raised hope of a more open tournament at Rio.

    Wang said any number of players could win her event but felt Chongqing-born Li would be hard to beat and perhaps the biggest threat to her own gold ambitions.

    "I think Li's game is really complete overall," she said.

    "We've both got our different strengths.

    "There are other players like Ratchanok, Marin and (Indian player) Saina Nehwal who all have a chance but I think Li is still at a higher level."

    (Editing by John O'Brien)

    - Reuters
     
  2. Nine Tailed Fox

    Nine Tailed Fox Regular Member

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    Why has Yihan to worry about Zika? She's not even going to Rio.
     
  3. OneToughBirdie

    OneToughBirdie Regular Member

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  4. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    It would seem WYH is CHN's other choice for WS in Rio.
    Sorry for WSX. But if WYH declines, which I doubt, then WSX would be the most qualified replacement. :D
     
  5. Master

    Master Regular Member

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    "Great Danes eye Rio glory after Cup breakthrough"

    becomes

    "Great Zika eye Wang after being INA SSP Runner-up "

    :D

    I think about people migration then :cool:

     
  6. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Most of the young WS players are unmarried and there is a geniune cause of concern that if they somehow contract Zika in Rio their future children may be affected negatively.
     
  7. Master

    Master Regular Member

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    No need to be worried for young unmarried woman.

    The precaution only for the pregnant women.

    Not related with long term effect.


    [​IMG]
    Source: Zika virus and complications: Questions and answers

    And the virus is self limiting disease, so your body could take care of it and finally destroyed it. All you should do if you got attacked by Zika virus is take a rest and give the supportive therapy to overcome pain and fever. That's all.

    How is Zika virus disease treated?
    The symptoms of Zika virus disease can be treated with common pain and fever medicines, rest and plenty of water. If symptoms worsen, people should seek medical advice.


     
  8. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    It seems the organizers are distributing a lot of free contraceptives to the majority of young athletes. So the ladies have to be more careful not to contract Zika and become pregnant.

    If Zika is easily countered, then we should not have babies with abnormal brain shape and size.
     
  9. Loh

    Loh Regular Member

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    Studies find ‘super bacteria’ in Rio’s Olympic venues, top beaches


    [​IMG]

    This July 27, 2015 aerial photo, shows Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Construction is underway on a project to cap a pipe that long spewed raw sewage into the marina, the starting place for the Olympic sailing events. Yet Associated Press testing of the marina's water quality found it laden with sewage viruses. Photo: AP

    http://www.todayonline.com/sports/s...ing1&cid=tg:recos:trending1:standard#cxrecs_s

    Published: 2:15 PM, June 11, 2016

    RIO DE JANEIRO — Scientists have found dangerous drug-resistant “super bacteria” off beaches in Rio de Janeiro that will host Olympic swimming events and in a lagoon where rowing and canoe athletes will compete when the Games start on Aug 5.

    The findings from two unpublished academic studies seen by Reuters concern Rio’s most popular spots for tourists and greatly increase the areas known to be infected by the microbes normally found only in hospitals.

    They also heighten concerns that Rio’s sewage-infested waterways are unsafe.

    A study published in late 2014 had shown the presence of the super bacteria — classified by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as an urgent public health threat — off one of the beaches in Guanabara Bay, where sailing and wind-surfing events will be held during the Games.

    The first of the two new studies, reviewed in September by scientists at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Diego, showed the presence of the microbes at five of Rio’s showcase beaches, including the ocean-front Copacabana, where open-water and triathlon swimming will take place.

    The other four were Ipanema, Leblon, Botafogo and Flamengo.

    The super bacteria can cause hard-to-treat urinary, gastrointestinal, pulmonary and bloodstream infections, along with meningitis. The CDC says studies show that these bacteria contribute to death in up to half of patients infected.

    The second new study, by the Brazilian federal government’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation lab, which will be published next month by the American Society for Microbiology, found the genes of super bacteria in the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in the heart of Rio and in a river that empties into Guanabara Bay.

    Waste from countless hospitals, in addition to hundreds of thousands of households, pours into storm drains, rivers and streams crisscrossing Rio, allowing the super bacteria to spread outside the city’s hospitals in recent years.

    Dr Renata Picao, a professor at Rio’s federal university and lead researcher of the first study, said the contamination of Rio’s famous beaches was the result of a lack of basic sanitation in the metropolitan area of 12 million people.

    “These bacteria should not be present in these waters. They should not be present in the sea,” said Dr Picao from her lab in northern Rio, itself enveloped by stench from Guanabara Bay.

    Cleaning the city’s waterways was meant to be one of the Games’ greatest legacies and a high-profile promise in the official 2009 bid document Rio used to win the right to host South America’s first Olympics.

    That goal has instead transformed into an embarrassing failure, with athletes lamenting the stench of sewage and complaining about debris that bangs into and clings to boats in Guanabara Bay, potential hazards for a fair competition.

    SITUATION GETTING WORSE

    Dr Picao’s study, which has undergone internal reviews at Rio’s federal university, analysed water samples taken between September 2013 and September 2014. Using 10 samples taken at five beach locations, the study found super bacteria were most present at Botafogo beach, where all samples were positive.

    Flamengo beach, where spectators will gather to watch Olympic sailors vie for medals, had the super bacteria in 90 per cent of samples. Ten per cent of Copacabana’s samples had the microbes.

    Ipanema and Leblon beaches, the most popular with tourists, had samples that tested positive for super bacteria 50 and 60 per cent of the time, respectively.

    The Oswaldo Cruz study of the Olympic lagoon, which was peer reviewed, is based on water samples taken in 2013. It found that the lake is a potential breeding ground for super bacteria and their spread through the city.

    While the studies both use water samples that are from 2013 and 2014, Picao and other experts said they had seen no advances in sewerage infrastructure in Rio to improve the situation.

    Dr Valerie Harwood, an expert in recreational water contamination and antibiotic-resistant bacteria at the University of South Florida who was not involved in the studies, said that if anything, things were getting worse, as the super bacteria naturally spread by infecting other microbes.

    The contamination has prompted federal police and prosecutors to investigate whether Rio’s water utility Cedae is committing environmental crimes by lying about how much sewage it treats. Investigators are also looking into where billions of dollars in funds went since the early 1990s, money earmarked to improve sewage services and clean Guanabara Bay.

    Cedae has denied any wrongdoing. It said in an emailed statement that any super bacteria found at the beaches or the Olympic lagoon must be the result of illegal dumping into storm drains. Cedae said it carries out sewage treatment and collection in the entire “south zone” of Rio, where the bodies of water are located and where the water samples were taken.

    ‘LIKE CANDY’

    Five scientists consulted by Reuters said the immediate risk to people’s health when faced with super bacteria infection depends on the state of their immune systems.

    These bacteria are opportunistic microbes that can enter the body, lie dormant, then attack at a later date when a healthy person may fall ill for another reason.

    Super bacteria infect not only humans but also otherwise-harmless bacteria present in the waters, turning them into antibiotic-resistant germs.

    Dr Harwood said the super bacteria genes discovered in the Olympic lagoon were probably not harmful if swallowed by themselves: They need to be cocooned inside of a bacterium.

    “Those genes are like candy. They are organic molecules and they’ll be eaten up by other bacteria, other organisms,” Dr Harwood said. “That’s where the danger is - if a person then ingests that infected organism - because it will make it through their gastrointestinal tract and potentially make someone ill.”

    The presence of the super bacteria genes in the lagoon indicates the bacteria themselves had recently died or simply were not detected by testing, Dr Harwood said.

    Health experts say Rio’s poor wastewater management has already created endemic illnesses associated with sewage that disproportionately impact the city’s poor, including gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, Hepatitis A and severe heart and brain conditions.

    Rio’s Olympic organising committee referred questions on water quality to state authorities.

    Rio state’s Inea environmental agency said in an emailed statement it follows the World Health Organization’s recommendations for testing recreational water safety, and that searching for super bacteria is not included in that. It also said there was a lack of studies about the bacteria in water and health outcomes. REUTERS
     

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