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Are the 2016 Rio Olympics the worst Summer Olympics ever? 

That is the question of many Olympic fans all over the world and the more we look at the news, the more we are convinced that if the Rio Olympic Games are not the worst Olympics ever, then they must be in the top three of the worst Olympics of all times.

Since Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was chosen as the Olympic site for the 2016 Summer Olympics on October 2, 2016, it became the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics.  It was chosen because of several factors which included a $14.4 billion budget.

Since then, Rio has been plagued with one problem after another assuring it a spot in the top worst Olympics of all times.

The problems started out with the infrastructure which began with political uncertainties when Brazil’s senate impeached Dilma Rousseff, the first female president who had a large part in bringing the Olympics to Rio.  To make matters worse, the zika virus came about and became widespread in Brazil.  The spread of the virus became such an issue that some health experts actually suggest that the Olympics be postponed or moved.

Another major issue is the crime in and around the Rio de Janeiro area.  According to several sources, over 58,000 murders took place in Brazil in 2015 giving them a place as one of the top 20 countries with the highest homicide rate by population.  In fact, just a week before the Olympics began; body parts were found on one of the shores where the volleyball games are currently taken place.

 Since the Olympic athletes began arriving in Rio, several reports have been made in the news of them being robbed and assaulted.  The latest being a Greek official and an Australian rowing coach robbed at knifepoint.

As to Rio being ready in time for the start of the Olympics, this has been a source of embarrassment for the city as many venue were not and are still not completed and even the Olympic village where the athletes reside were still incomplete upon their arrival.

In terms of financial disasters, analysts estimate that Brazil could incur up to $15 billion in losses.  This is a tough break for a country that is still a developing country but in their defense, when the decision was made to choose Brazil as the host country, their economy was in an upward swing and they did receive a very positive assessment from the IOC.

In terms of losses, it is still too early to tell if Rio de Janeiro will be hold the record for having lost the most money from an Olympic games but they certainly will rank on the top of the list. 

The current holder of the most money lost is Athens, Greece which held the 2004 Olympics and incurred a $14-$15 Billion loss.  In second place is Sydney which lost 2.1 billion during the 2000 Olympics followed by Moscow which held the 1980 Olympics with a $1.19 billion loss.

For the spirit of sportsmanship the situation is a bit iffy.  One one hand a recent selfie of two gymnast, Hong Un Jong of North Korean and Lee Eun-Ju of South Korean has cause quite a happy stir in social media.  On the other hand, two olympic boxers have been accused of sexual assauly and it seems like the Russian doping scandal is still experiencing some backlash in the swimming competition where other athletes are still giving Russians a hard time for being cheaters.

So now, we are just waiting to see which top sportsbook will place odds on the next disaster to come at the 2016 Olympic Games.