Most Olympics suffer a blitz of pre-games negative press. There were concerns over unfinished hotel rooms ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. A bungled security contract and overspending cast a cloud over the lead-up to the London Olympics in 2012.

But if there was a competition for the host city that could attract the most criticism, the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro, which begin on Friday, would already have won gold.

The concerns have ranged from plumbing problems and a fire and theft in the Australian quarters of the athletes’ village, to the outbreak of the mosquito-born disease, Zika. There is also the chronic pollution in the city`s Guanabara Bay and its main lagoon, which will be used for water sports, including sailing and rowing.