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Rio de Janeiro • U.S. Olympic Committee leaders spoke highly of their athletes' experience so far in Rio, commending the Brazilian support staff for accommodating them.
Athletes who have interacted with chief of sport Alan Ashley are "very, very positive – excited to be here and in a good place," Ashley said.
CEO Scott Blackmun said of Rio organizers, "It's obvious that they're trying really, really hard. … We feel very welcome here."
Doping issues were a major topic of Friday's news conference, with questions about the presence of 270 Russian athletes in the Games, amid the bans of many of their countrymen. Regarding the fairness of competing against the Russians, Blackmun said, "There are clean athletes included in that 270, to be sure."
Ashley said, "I haven't heard a word about it" from American athletes.
USOC board president Larry Probst credited the federations governing rowing, weightlifting and swimming for having done "a really good job" of screening Russian athletes who applied to compete in those sports. Overall, Probst said of anti-doping efforts, "Clearly, the system is not working. … This is not just Russia; this is a global problem."
– Kurt Kragthorpe