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In Athletes’ Housing at Rio Olympics: Blocked Toilets, Leaking Pipes and Exposed Wiring

A bedroom in the Olympic and Paralympic Village for the 2016 Rio Games.Credit...Buda Mendes/Getty Images

RIO DE JANEIRO — Adding to the list of setbacks and stumbles for the Rio Olympics, the athletes’ village, home to thousands of athletes during the Summer Games, has been called unfit for occupancy.

Sunday was supposed to be move-in day for many athletes, but the leader of the Australian Olympic delegation said its athletes would not be checking in because of problems with the gas, electricity and plumbing.

The opening ceremony for the Rio Games is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Among the issues with housing units at the village were “blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring,” said Kitty Chiller, the chef de mission in Rio de Janeiro for the Australian Olympic Committee. There was also bad lighting in many stairwells and “dirty floors in need of a massive clean,” she said in a written statement.

“Water has come through the ceiling resulting in large puddles on the floor around cabling and wiring,” Chiller said.

Chiller said that delegations from Britain, New Zealand and other countries were experiencing similar problems in the village, which is in an area of western Rio called Barra da Tijuca.

Sweden’s women’s soccer team also refused to move into its apartments because of similar problems, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported. The newspaper article said the United States, Italy and the Netherlands had paid to hire workers to finish their rooms.

Australian athletes have been staying at hotels as local organizers in Rio try to fix the problems, according to Australian officials.

Olympic officials said they expected the issues to be resolved within a few days. They said the village had officially opened Sunday morning and, as planned, a few hundred delegation members had moved in.

“There are some adjustments that we are dealing with and will be resolved in a short while,” said Carlos Nuzman, the president of the organizing committee. “Every Olympic village, because of their magnitude, needs some adjustments until it becomes perfect. The important thing is that everything will be resolved before the Games, without disturbing the athletes.”

Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the 2016 Summer Games seven years ago, when few obstacles were apparent. But the city and the organizers of the Games have encountered difficulties including political and economic turmoil; the spread of the Zika virus; pollution in bodies of water that are to be used in Olympic events; and the threat from terrorism.

Now officials are facing a situation similar to what unfolded at the last Winter Olympics, in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, when lodging was not ready for the start of the Games.

Australian officials discussed concerns with Olympic officials in Rio on a daily basis, they said, adding that they would reassess the situation on Sunday evening.

A spokesman for the British Olympic Committee said that it had been meeting daily with Rio officials “to find solutions to issues that have arisen in the village for the benefit of all delegations.”

“We are confident that our accommodation is ready to receive athletes and will be to the highest standards within the village,” the spokesman, Scott Field, said. “Whilst we have encountered some maintenance difficulties, this is not uncommon with new-build structures of this type, and we have been working to overcome them.”

The United States expects to have 500 athletes and staff members staying in the athletes’ village. “As is the case with every Games, we’re working with the local organizers to address minor issues and make sure the village is ready for Team U.S.A. athletes,” said Patrick Sandusky, a spokesman for the United States Olympic Committee.

A “stress test” that Australian officials conducted at the village on Saturday night led to the decision to not allow its athletes to move in. To test the facilities, the officials simultaneously turned on lights and flushed toilets in apartments on several floors.

“The system failed,” Chiller said. “Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments, and there was shorting in electrical wiring.”

A correction was made on 
July 24, 2016

An earlier version of this article misspelled the given name of the president of the organizing committee for the Rio Olympics. He is Carlos Nuzman, not Carolos.

How we handle corrections

Vinod Sreeharsha contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section D, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Water and Gas Leaks Keep Athletes Out of Village Lodging. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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