Source: Dailymail UK
When it rains it pours: Now Rio is rocked by torrential storm, causing chaos during pole vault final, discus throws, 110m hurdles and sailing on Guanabara Bay
- The evening track and field program was put on hold Monday due to strong winds and rain in Rio de Janeiro
- The pole vault final, women's discus preliminaries and men's 110-hurdles were halted until conditions improve
- It also delayed the start times of the men's 800m and women's 400m
- Hurdlers who competed the rain were later told they would have another shot at the preliminaries later in the night
Athletes competing in track and field had to put up with a disrupting downpour Monday night.
Strong winds and rain assailed Rio de Janeiro as competitors ran the 110-hurdles preliminaries.
Orlando Ortega (center) of Spain competes under heavy rain during the men's 110m hurdles
Germany's Matthias Buhler competes through the rain in the men's 110m hurdles
Athletes clear hurdles during the 110m heats as heavy rain disrupts the track and field events
Croatia's Sandra Perkovic, left, and other athletes rest in a dry part of the stadium as the women's discus qualification is delayed due to heavy rain
Hurdlers took a heavy beating as they tried to keep going with their event.
Brazil's João Vitor de Oliveira fell and slipped several feet due to the wet track.
Several of the discus throwers had a hard time in their event, as the device kept slipping from their hands.
The events were put on hold and resumed later.
Hurdlers who competed the rain were later told they would have another shot at the preliminaries later in the night.
Brazil's João Vitor de Oliveira fell during the hurdles because of the heavy rain
Oliveira looks distraught as he gets up after falling during the hurdles in the middle of the preliminaries
Jamaica's Deuce Carter (left) and Germany's Matthias Buhler (right) keep running the 110-meter hurdles despite the rain
The pole vault final, women's discus preliminaries and men's 110-hurdles were halted until conditions improved.
Pole vaulters don't like a lot of wind as gusts because it affects their flight.
For discus throwers, the wind can affect flight and distance.
Before the evening program was halted, several discus throwers landed their discuses in the nets because it was so wet.
At the same time, the public address system was playing 'I'm singing in the rain.'
Competitors leave the field during discus competition as it rains heavily at the venue
Hurdles competitors were the last to perform in the rain before the event was halted
Before the evening program was halted, several discus throwers landed their discuses in the nets because it was so wet. Hurdlers (pictured) also faced difficulties but kept going anyway
On Guanabara Bay, a strong wind from the southwest blew across the Rio de Janeiro Games sailing courses, forcing the medal race in the women's Laser Radial to be postponed.
At the Olympic Stadium, the bad weather almost claimed an Olympic champion.
Sandra Perkovic had two fouls in wet and slippery conditions and was one discus throw away from being eliminated. In drier conditions, she came through with an automatic qualifying measure for the final.
She celebrated like she had won. Denia Caballero, the world champion from Cuba, also needed a qualifier on her final attempt after two fouls.
The 110-meter hurdles heats were hard hit, prompting organizers to run a special race later in the night.
'It's atrocious. It's hard to compete in weather like this,' said Jamaican hurdler Omar McLeod, who won the first heat amid heavy rain. 'The water is beaming down in your face and your eyes and it's real hard.'
China's Xue Changrui falls poorly during a very wet pole vaulting competition at Rio 2016
China's Xue Changrui compete despite the wet track, right before the events were canceled due to the weather
Slippery conditions: Dani Samuels of Australia competes in the rain during a women's discus throw; the discus kept slipping from several throwers hands
Helpless: Shanice Craft of Germany stands in the rain during an interruption of the in the Women's discus throw
The hurdles already requires high precision and is a risky event.
'You're worried about getting hurt,' McLeod said.
His teammate Deuce Carter was worse off. He slipped and slid past the finish of the next heat before he was disqualified.
'They could've stopped it before. When I went out, the track was soaking,' he said. 'I put my hand in water, basically a bucket of water.'
Some found it hard to comprehend why the first two of five heats were allowed to go ahead before rain finally forced a delay of about 25 minutes.
'If it's a little bit of rain, I don't mind. I do my practice. But in this pouring rain? I don't even try,' said Balazs Baji of Hungary, who did qualify in the rain.
The non-qualified hurdlers from the first two heats were given a second chance, including Carter, when organizers added a special race at the end of Monday night's program to give them a chance to qualify on times.
A member of the Angola crew of the 470 men category try to right his boat as a sudden strong wind hit the Guanabara bay forcing the postponing of the scheduled sailing races
The first four in the five original heats qualified automatically for the next round, leaving the next four places to be decided on times.
'This decision was taken to ensure fairness, because the conditions for heats 1 and 2 were dramatically different than the other heats,' the IAAF, track's international governing body, said.
There were some amendments in the pole vault as well. The final was already affected by gusts of wind swirling through the stadium and organizers decided to start again from scratch.
And in women's discus qualifying, the discus was so slippery that 10 of 17 athletes had fouls on their first attempt, with many landing in the protective netting.
Half an hour later, when hurdles qualifying resumed, Brazilian João Vitor de Oliveira threw himself across the line to qualify from his heat for the semifinals.
Outside the fans retreated deeper under the roof of the stadium and soon got a wave going before competition resumed.
On the bay, the sight of bobbing boats caused trouble enough earlier in the day.
'Everyone has some form of damage to their boats, whether it's a bit of wear and tear on the sails, to people probably lost sails out there because it got that windy,' defending 49er gold medalist Nathan Outteridge .
Orlando Ortega of Spain competes under heavy rain during the men's 110m hurdles
No comments :
Post a Comment