100 Days to Rio Olympics! What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

One hundred days to the Rio Olympic Games and Brazil still faces several problems that have the country reeling, according to The Guardian.

For starters, President Dilma Rousseff is facing an impeachment vote and a huge corruption scandal has caused widespread political tensions. 

Then comes the Zika virus that has scared some Olympians like U.S. soccer star Hope Solo into thinking about skipping the games altogether, reminded Sports Illustrated.

Next are the problems associated with any games startup, like water pollution complaints at one of the main Olympic venues at Guanabara Bay, noted The Guardian.

"Add to this appalling traffic congestion (ranked third worst in the world), poor ticket sales (barely half of Olympic seats and one-fifth of Paralympic seats have been sold), rising unemployment, worsening inflation, persistent challenges with inequality, police killings of black youths and statements in favor of torture, misogyny, and military dictatorship by the city's most-voted-for politician, Jair Bolsonaro," The Guardian said.

Regys Silva, an attorney in Fortaleza, Brazil who runs the daily Portuguese-language Olympics website Surto Olimpico, told CNN he remained optimistic about the Rio games.

"It'll work, it'll happen and it'll be cool," Silva said. "But now it's not the center of attention, the excitement is not that big. It'll take a little longer – maybe a month to go. We have our Brazilian way of making things work. It won't be perfect. We expect that, and we have done since the beginning."

Torben Grael, who will be coaching the Brazilian sailing team and is a former gold medalist in the sport, told Canadian CBC Sports this week that he believe the games will go well despite the problems.

"I think (Guanabara Bay's) a nice venue even though it's been a bit of troubled times for us unfortunately," Grael said. "I think that most of the work is done and I hope the Games go smoothly. Of course anybody who is involved with the Olympic Games, to be able to sail or compete in your own country, that's huge."

Related Stories:

• Rio Olympic Water Far More Contaminated by Sewage Than Previously Thought: AP
  
• Hope Solo: Zika Threat Could Keep Her From 'Safe' Olympics