Cycling: Fire again in the Olympic Velodrome of Rio

Only four months after a fire on the roof of the Olympic track cycling stadium in Rio de Janeiro, a falling paper balloon set the apparently easily inflammable dome on fire again on Sunday night.

An initial inspection has shown that neither load-bearing parts of the roof structure nor the wooden sheeting have been damaged. Only the coating was partially destroyed.

“The flames were immediately brought under control by the fire brigade”, according to a statement by the federal authority AGLO, which is responsible for the administration of the Olympic venues. Also in July an unmanned balloon, which uses a source of fire as its propulsion system, caused the fire on the roof, whereby falling ashes also affected the wooden track.

Like most other arenas in the Olympic Park in the district of Barra da Tijuca, the Velodrom has only been used sporadically since last summer’s games. According to the Ministry of Sport, the annual maintenance of the Rad-Arena costs around eleven million real, today’s equivalent of 2.8 million euros.