Chiller: 'No Point in Laying Blame' on Village Issues

(ATR) Australian Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller tells Around the Rings that collaboration with up to 10 other National Olympic Committees has expedited fixing the Olympic Village issues.

Yesterday, Chiller said in a statement that the building housing Australian athletes for the 2016 Games was unsafe and that the team would not be moving in until issues were resolved. She said that "a variety of problems…including gas, electricity and plumbing," led to the unsafe conditions for athletes in the village.

In a press conference a day later, Chiller said that three of the fifteen floors in the building had been fixed, with the expectation that three additional floors would be finished by next morning. The Australian delegation expects the entire building to be handed over, with the exception of seven apartments which require more intensive work, for a final cleaning by the end of tomorrow.

"I think having pressure put on the organizing committee, the NOCs worked together collaboratively and we went to OCOG with the IOC and said there are some issues, and we heard back ‘we want to help you and this is how will we help you,’ and that has been the aim of how this process has gone," Chiller said to ATR. "There was no point in laying blame, and we were where we were, but by doing it in that way the resources we needed were made available."

Upon hearing of the problems yesterday Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes told ATR that he delivered his promise to have the buildings done on time and on budget, but that did not mean they would be without problems. He also told reporters that he was considering putting a Kangaroo outside their building to make the Australian delegation "feel more at home," and at ease about the process.

According to Chiller, NOCs from Great Britain, New Zealand, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Japan and possibly others worked together with organizers to report problems ahead of the village opening. Yesterday, Brazilian outlet Folha reported that Brazil, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States NOCs had all used private contractors to fix issues in their Olympic Village accommodation.

The Italian Olympic Committee confirmed the report in a statement from Chef de Mission Carlo Mornati saying they hired ‘work crews, electricians, plumbers and masons, specifically contracted urgently to ensure that the housing conditions of the athletes will be made to be normal conditions."

The Australian delegation is currently paying for cleaners to help expedite the process in their building and for the alternate accommodation for athletes. Chiller would not say who would ultimately foot the bill for the unplanned expenditures, as her focus remains on the 410 athletes that are trickling into Rio de Janeiro.

As last minute works continue in the village, Chiller wanted to reiterate that releasing a statement to the media was not an attempt to smear the Rio 2016 organizing committee or the city of Rio de Janeiro. This is not the first time the Australian delegation has been outspoken against Rio authorities in the past two years, having spoken out about security concerns and the potential risks of the zika outbreak in the past.

"I would like on record to pass on enormous amount of thanks for the organizing committee, the IOC and the mayor," Chiller said. "He has thrown thousands of workers in the last week and there has been a tremendous amount of support [to fixing the accommodations]."

Support for the village was given by three Australian boxers, Jason Wateley, Daniel Lewis and Shelley Watts, who joined Chiller at the press conference. All three visited the village today and said that the accommodation provided has not impacted their training in a negative way ahead of the Games.

"I haven’t had to concern myself with the leakages but walking in there I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face," Watts said to reporters. "What Rio has done to create the facility has been great, and I am glad the AOC took steps to make sure safety was there for us, so when we come in we have no concerns."

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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