Delays continue to affect the construction of several Olympic venues, including the new Rio Olympic Velodrome, with news that one of the test events scheduled to happen in advance of the 2016 Olympics has had to be postponed.
The event, the Aquece Rio International Track Cycling Challenge, was meant to be held between 18 and 20 March 2016, but will now be pushed back to between April 29 and May 1. This is down to delays in laying the velodrome track, according to news reported on the insidethegames.biz.
Although the velodrome was reportedly 76 percent complete in December, its construction is lagging behind other venues in the newly contructed Barra de Tijuca Olympic Park.
Track cycling isn't the only Olympic cycling discipline to suffer setbacks in the run-up to the Rio 2016 Olympics. In October 2015 a number of international riders invited to test the Olympic BMX track declined to ride, stating that the track was 'unsafe'.
There have also been ongoing problems at other venues. Guanabara Bay, the planned location for many of the Olympic sailing events, has been strongly criticised due to the high levels of raw sewage in the water. The Olympic Tennis Centre, which was initially scheduled to be completed by September 2015, has suffered from 'intentional delays' down to the construction consortium behind the building of the venue, claim Rio city authorities.
The Rio 2016 Olympic committee has said that despite the delays the velodrome will be completed in time for the Olympic track cycling events.
“Rio 2016 and the International Cycling Union (UCI) look forward to an exciting test event and will continue to work closely together in the preparation and planning for both the test event and the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said a recent statement. “There is no impact on the Games-time competitions, with Olympic track cycling taking place from 11-16 August and Paralympic track cycling from 8-11 September.”
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