should capture the atmosphere in a host nation, then Rio 2016's curtain-raiser should be interesting.
With
100 days until the Games begin, Brazil is unraveling fast -- largely
overshadowing the impending arrival of sport's greatest showpiece.
Who
needs the staple pre-Olympic media diet of venue delays and security
fears when you have a leader facing impeachment, a gigantic corruption
scandal and a global public health emergency?
As
the clock ticks, it is impossible to know who will occupy the seat
reserved for the Brazilian president at the August 5 opening ceremony.
The
incumbent, Dilma Rousseff, is alleged to have manipulated her
government's economic figures prior to 2014's election. She says the
consequent impeachment proceedings against her are a "coup" she will
fight to the last.
Leading
her opponents is Eduardo Cunha, speaker of Brazil's lower house. He
says Rousseff has brought "economic chaos" on Brazil, but is facing his
own series of proceedings related to corruption and money-laundering
allegations.
Hundreds of thousands
of protesters on both sides routinely take to Brazil's streets. Forgive
them if they haven't yet bought badminton tickets.
"If
it was a normal situation, the excitement would be starting to grow
somewhere around May or June," says Regys Silva, one of the few
Brazilians for whom the Olympics remain a daily priority.
A
lawyer in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, he and a group of friends
run a daily Portuguese-language Olympics website named Surto Olimpico.
"But it's Brazil," he continues. "The country always has a crisis. And now the Olympics have to compete with this crisis."
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