Report: With Rio reeling, IOC mulls London as 2016 Olympic back-up
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
The London Evening Standard reports that London has been "secretly asked" if it is prepared to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in the event that Rio de Janeiro isn't fully prepared for the games. "An informal approach was made by Olympics bosses to discover whether enough venues from the triumphant 2012 London Games could be brought back into use," according to the report.
The IOC seems very concerned about Brazil's preparations. A couple weeks ago, a high-ranking IOC official publicly blasted Rio for being behind in "many, many ways," describing the prep as "the worst I have experienced."
Still, a repeat of the London games seems highly unlikely. What are the odds? "Infinitesimally small," an otherwise unidentified "source" tells the Evening Standard.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.