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Riosa国际传媒檚 Olympics, 1 year later

A look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from the 2016 Summer Games
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RIO DE JANEIRO sa国际传媒 Neymar kissed the ball, delivered a gold medal and then wept with other Brazilians.

Look no further if yousa国际传媒檙e searching for an iconic image of the .

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 the only medal that really mattered,sa国际传媒 Salvador Gaeta said recently while cycling in the deserted Olympic Park. sa国际传媒淓very Brazilian will remember it.sa国际传媒

Other memories have faded at home since the Olympics opened a year ago. A few expectations were met, but many fell short of those promised by IOC President Thomas Bach and organizing committee head Carlos Nuzman.

Bach boasted at the closing ceremony of sa国际传媒渁 Rio de Janeiro before, and a much better Rio de Janeiro after the Olympic Games.sa国际传媒

Nuzman called Rio the next Barcelona, one of the cities clearly transformed by the games.

Save for minor cosmetic changes, a city fractured by mountains and searing inequality remains as it was. Violent crime mostly concealed during the Olympics is soaring, tied to Brazilsa国际传媒檚 deepest economic downturn in 100 years and unpaid policemen leaving in droves. Brazilsa国际传媒檚 military has been called in to quell Riosa国际传媒檚 untethered violence.

Rio barely managed to keep it together for the Olympics, needed a government bailout to hold the Paralympics and then collapsed under a grinding recession and sprawling corruption scandals.

The games took place mostly in the south and west of the city, which remains white and wealthy. The rest is still a hodgepodge of dilapidated factories and hillside slums of cinderblocks, tin roofs and open troughs of raw sewage.

Brazil says it spent $13 billion in public and private money to organize the Olympics sa国际传媒 some estimates suggest $20 billion sa国际传媒 and many games-related projects since then have been tied to corruption scandals that marred the games and drove up costs. Federal police and prosecutors have linked overpriced projects to graft between politicians and construction companies.

A look at the fallout since the Olympics opened on Aug. 5:

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THE GOOD

The Olympics left behind a new subway line extension, high-speed bus service and an urban jewel: a renovated port area filled with food stands, musicians and safe street life in a city rife with crime.

These probably would not have been built without the prestige of the Olympics. But the games also imposed deadlines and drove up the price. A state auditorsa国际传媒檚 report said the 9.7 billion real ($3 billion) subway was overbilled by 25 per cent.

Igor Silverio lives nearby the port in a favela sa国际传媒 or shanytown sa国际传媒 and came the other day to kick around a soccer ball with his two young boys. The area in his youth was known for decay and drunkenness.

sa国际传媒淔or sure itsa国际传媒檚 better,sa国际传媒 he said. But, he added, he sa国际传媒渆xpected more from the Olympics.sa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淔rom my point of view, the Olympics only benefited the foreigners. Local people themselves didnsa国际传媒檛 get much. The security situation isnsa国际传媒檛 good, the hospitals. I think these are investments that didnsa国际传媒檛 benefit many local people.sa国际传媒

He said he skipped the Olympics because they were sa国际传媒渢oo expensivesa国际传媒 and located far away in the suburbs.

Standing outside the new subway line, 57-year-old domestic worker Isa Trajano Fernandes said public transportation had improved but was still deficient.

sa国际传媒淲hen the Olympics were going on it was better, but then they let it slide,sa国际传媒 she said.

She complained about crowding on the new express buses and the lack of security.

sa国际传媒淧eople have no dignity using public transportation in Rio de Janeiro,sa国际传媒 she said.

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THE BAD

The Olympics left a half-dozen vacant sports arenas in the Olympic Park and 3,600 empty apartments in the boarded-up Olympic Village. Deodoro, a major complex of venues in the impoverished north, is shuttered behind iron gates.

Standing across the street, Jose Mauricio Pehna de Souza was asked if Rio benefited from the Olympics.

sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 think so, not us in Brazil,sa国际传媒 he said.

A $20 million golf course is struggling to find players and financing.

A few dozen were on the course on a recent, sunny Saturday. The clubhouse is mostly unfurnished, and it costs non-Brazilians 560 reals ($180) for 18 holes and a cart.

Organizers and the International Olympic Committee say Rio needs time to develop these venues, and faults Brazilsa国际传媒檚 deep recession for most of the problems.

A prosecutor several months ago disputed this, saying the Olympic Park sa国际传媒渓acked planning how to use white elephantsa国际传媒 sports venues. Many were built as part of real estate deals that have yet to pan out.

Juliana Solaira, a 30-year-old pharmacist who lives across from the park, called the space sa国际传媒渁n excellent legacysa国际传媒 but said sa国际传媒渇ew people use it.sa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淗ere we see all this money spent,sa国际传媒 she said. sa国际传媒淯nfortunately, we see most of the arenas are closed. So I think it could have been used in a better way.sa国际传媒

The park offers few amenities: no restaurants, no shade and nothing much to do except gawk at deserted arenas. City hall officials and the federal government say theysa国际传媒檙e planning an event for Aug. 5 to sa国际传媒渇ill all the arenassa国际传媒 for the day.

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THE UGLY

Rio organizers promised to clean up polluted Guanabara Bay in their winning bid in 2009. During the Olympics, officials used stop-gap measures to keep floating sofas, logs and dead animals from crashing into boats during the sailing events.

Since the Olympics, the bankrupt state of Rio de Janeiro has ceased major efforts to clean the bay, its unwelcome stench often drifting along the highway from the international airport.

sa国际传媒淚 think itsa国际传媒檚 gotten worse,sa国际传媒 Brazilsa国际传媒檚 gold-medal sailor Kahena Kunze said in a recent interview. sa国际传媒淭here was always floating trash, but I see more and more. Itsa国际传媒檚 no use hiding the trash because it comes back. I figured it would get worse because I havensa国际传媒檛 seen anything concrete being done.sa国际传媒

Avenida Brasil, the main north-south artery through the city, is a snarl of unfinished roads and express bus lanes, viaducts to nowhere and detours through miles (kilometres) of traffic cones.

Some of the politicians behind the Olympics have been accused of graft, and organizers still owe creditors about $30 million to 40 million.

Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wept when Rio was awarded the games, was convicted last month on corruption charges and faces a 9 1/2-year prison term. He is appealing.

Former Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes , the local moving force behind the Olympics, is being investigated for allegedly accepting at least 15 million reals ($5 million) in payments to facilitate construction projects tied to the games. He denies wrongdoing.

Another early booster, former Rio state governor Sergio Cabral, is in jail on corruption charges.

Carlos Nuzman, president of the organizing committee, was defeated earlier this year in an election to lead the Pan American Sports Organization. He ran on his record leading the Rio Olympics and finished third in a three-man race.

Stephen Wade And Renata Brito, The Associated Press





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