The Olympic athletes in Rio just can’t catch a break—or a Pokemon, apparently.
The Olympic athletes in Rio just can’t catch a break—or a Pokemon, apparently.
In advance of the 2016 Games, which begin on Friday, athletes and press began arriving in Rio last week and quickly found evidence of a city unprepared: The Olympic Village, where they sleep, has been described as “uninhabitable.” Meanwhile, Rio is still dealing with Zika threats, political unrest, a crime wave, and violent protests.
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Adding insult to injury, there’s no Pokémon Go. The smash-hit game that has taken the world by storm—people are spending more time with it than Facebook $META—is available in America, Europe, and Asia, but has yet to reach Brazil.
Earlier this month, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes appealed to Nintendo to release Pokémon in his city in time for the Games. “Hello Nintendo! There are 23 days until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games,” Paes wrote on Facebook in Portuguese. “Everybody’s coming. You should come on down too.” Unfortunately the campaigning seems to have failed.
Of course, the truly desperate—from Pokémon-equipped home countries at least—can still open the game on their phones. As seen above, it displays a map of their surroundings bereft of Pokémon or Pokémon stops, a world as uninhabitable as the Olympic Village.
While athletes won’t have a chance to play Pokémon Go, the city has equipped them for a different recreational activity. Olympic organizers are distributing a record 450,000 condoms to athletes, including 100,000 female condoms. Also available: 175,000 lubricant sachets.
