Rio Olympics will be interesting, says Mark Tewksbury

Olympian Mark Tewksbury, a Canadian gold medallist in swimming and broadcaster for CBC at the coming Games in Rio, is excited about going back to the Olympics but unsure what to expect.

• Rio Organizing Committee continues to endure scorn

Tewksbury won a gold medal in backstroke in Barcelona in 1992 and was Canada's chef de mission in London in 2012, but despite all his Olympic experience he is uncertain about how the Games will deal with all the issues faced in Rio.

'Major issues'

The Brazilian city is still struggling to finish a transportation link between the city centre and Olympic venues, there are funding concerns about transportation and security, there's a pollution problem at the Guanabara Bay sailing venue, and nature threw the event a curveball with the Zika virus.

"We're talking about major issues, so it's going to be an interesting Games. I'm not sure what to expect," Tewksbury told CBC News: Compass host Bruce Rainnie.

"Often, the Games start and the sport transcends everything else. This may be the first Games where this does not happen."

Tewksbury is on P.E.I. for a Special Olympics event.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Stewardship council demands P.E.I. lobster fishery use less mackerel as bait
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Power restored after wildlife gets into substation