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Wind wreaks havoc at Rio Olympics, blowing down signs, canceling rowing

RIO DE JANEIRO — At the start of the second full day of competition at the Rio Olympics, it was Mother Nature's turn to take center stage.

Umbrellas in the fan gathering area at the Olympic Park blew over in high winds Sunday. (Photo: Thomas O'Toole, USA TODAY Sports)

RIO DE JANEIRO — At the start of the second full day of competition at the Rio Olympics, it was Mother Nature's turn to take center stage.

High wind gusts wreaked havoc on the early competition Sunday, forcing the complete cancellation of rowing events at Lagoa Stadium, damaging a portion of the Aquatics Center and knocking over tents throughout Olympic Park.

Mario Andrada, a spokesman for the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, said the damage to the aquatics center was not structural and would not affect the competition inside. He said the cancellation of rowing and canoeing events was standard protocol for those sports, and assured that fans with tickets would get reimbursed or given the opportunity to attend the events once they're rescheduled.

"I hope you appreciate the Brazilian winter," he said.

U.S. swimming coach Dave Marsh said the winds also forced officials to close the dining hall in the athlete's village, which is located a few blocks from the Olympic Park in the Barra section of Rio.

In the beach volleyball stadium on Copacabana Beach, the weather turned minutes before the USA’s Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat played in the second match of the day. Clouds rolled in and gusts picked up, blowing hard across the length of the court.

The match went ahead as planned, but the first set was a sloppy one, with numerous serves sailing out and a host of unforced errors from both teams. The Americans eventually prevailed in that first set, 21-14, over Poland’s Kinga Kolosinska and Monika Brzostek.

Many umbrellas at the main fan gathering area of the Barra Olympic Park were blown over. The main Olympic souvenir story in Olympic Park closed after being open a few hours. People who were trying to get in were told there was some structural damage by workers at the door. Earlier, a small tear developed in the roof of what is basically an extremely large tent.

Winds like this are not uncommon this time of year with the Rio geography and weather having described by locals at "intense."

At the tennis venue, the match at the main stadium began as planned thanks to the high wall surrounding the court. But play on the rest of the courts, which have little more than a fence around them, were delayed.

Dustin Brown of Germany and Thomaz Bellucci probably wished their match had been delayed as well - the heavy wind gusts made for some comical tennis.

Pretty wild wind storm just blew in. Bean bag chairs are rocketing off balconies and allegedly the dining hall has been evacuated. Women's road race set to start in 75 minutes...

A video posted by Bobby Lea (@blea505) on

This is the wind condition players will have to face today...Very challenging situations ahead.Wind, best tennis players enemy????

A video posted by Samuel Sumyk (@samsumyk) on


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