A Rio official loses the key to open the gates of the Maracanã Stadium and is forced to use bolt cutters to enter the venue.
A Rio official lost the key to open the massive gates of the Maracanã Stadium, and of course, the story makes headlines. At this point, many are wondering, what has not gone wrong for organizers of the Rio Olympics 2016?
The Olympic games have been plagued by a long list of issues, which included a major doping scandal of the Russian athletes. The negatives headlines continued with the numerous Zika cases diagnosed in Brazil and a deadly shooting on the eve of the games.
Countless high-profile athletes, who feared they would contract the illness, bowed out of the event. As if that was not enough, many fear that the poor quality of the drinking water will lead to another series of health issues.
On Thursday, officials suffered yet another embarrassment. Believe it or not, they lost the keys to open the gates of the largest stadium in Brazil – the Maracanã Stadium – where 80,000 people will be present for the opening ceremony.
The unusual incident was caught on camera by reporters, who shared it online and it quickly went viral. The clip showed emergency staff and firefighters having to break a padlock on the gates with a pair of bolt cutters.
They then passed the broken padlock through the gate and calmly gave it to a member of the Olympic staff sporting a Rio 2016 shirt, who finally opened the gates. Julia Carneiro, the BBC Reporter, who first posted the video, said:
“What a start!#Rio2016 kicking off with lost key and firemen forcing open lock to east gate of Olympic stadium #oops.”
Others replied with few jokes of their own:
“Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt were hiding the keys under the sofa.”
“I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.”
“I am nervous about this whole event. I pray they all stay safe.”
What do you think of the incident?
What a start! #Rio2016 kicking off with lost key and firemen forcing open lock to east gate of Olympic stadium #oops pic.twitter.com/7yj0moF9Ms
— Julia Carneiro (@juliadcarneiro) August 3, 2016
