Golden brown: Tainted legacy of the Rio Olympics six months on

Less than six months after Rio de Janeiro hosted the first-ever Olympics in South America, game venues sit idle and already in disrepair, raising questions about a legacy that organisers promised would benefit the Brazilian city and its residents.

“We thought this would be for us,” said Alex da Silva Ferreira, a mechanic who walked with his 7-year-old son past the locked gate of what was supposed to be a park in Deodoro, a neighborhood that hosted canoeing and mountain bike competitions. “It’s been closed this entire time.”

A lack of activity and upkeep is plaguing facilities including the site of swimming competitions, where craters from disassembled pools collect stagnant water, and Rio’s famed Maracanã stadium, site of the opening and closing ceremonies.