More Worrisome Than Zika? There Is No Coffee In The Olympic Village

While reporting on the amenities in the Olympic Village, NPR's Melissa Block made an important discovery. The village boasts some great perks — such as the on-site spa offering complimentary manicures — but this year's home away from home for the world's top athletes is lacking one vital amenity: coffee. Egyptian archer Ahmed El-Nemr was the one to point it out to Block. "I have some complaints about coffee," he told her with a laugh. More specifically, there apparently isn't a drop of the stuff in the whole athlete's village. We admire El-Nemr's strength at breaking this news — where he chuckled sheepishly, we'd choke back caffeine-withdrawal-induced sobs of incredulity. Luckily, a few brief Google Maps searches have confirmed that there are, in fact, several coffee shops in the city proper, and even a few Starbucks branches. El-Nemr and his under-caffeinated peers will just have to venture beyond the village walls to get their fix. Going into this year's Olympics, we thought the participating athletes had enough to worry about — contracting Zika, competing in water that's basically raw sewage, getting outshone and generally out-badassed by Simone Biles — but we've reached a fever pitch with this coffee issue. Would you be able to survive an Olympic event without your trusty cold brew? Let us know in the comments section. Listen to NPR's full report on the Olympic Village, below.