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A large fire damaged the roof of the velodrome in Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic Park, but the venue’s track was not affected.<\/b><\/p>\n
About 80 firefighters and 20 fire engines battled the blaze after being called at 04:17 local time on Wednesday, the state’s military fire department said.<\/p>\n
The venue, where Great Britain won six Olympic and eight Paralympic gold medals in 2016, houses the Olympic Museum which features exhibits \u200band artefacts from the Games.<\/p>\n
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said a preliminary assessment had found “the track at the Olympic Velodrome was not damaged in any way”. <\/p>\n
“It remains intact and well-preserved. Obviously, it will need to be cleaned and undergo some form of maintenance before we can announce that the velodrome is back in operation,” he added.<\/p>\n
Lt Col Fabio Contreiras told CNN Brazil firefighters tackled the blaze inside and outside of the velodrome, and worked to protect artefacts in the museum.<\/p>\n
No injuries were reported and officials said there was no risk of the blaze spreading to other parts of the Olympic complex.<\/p>\n
The velodrome roof previously caught fire twice in 2017, with both incidents linked to falling sky lanterns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n