Equestrian Event at Olympic Venue Cancelled Due to Construction Delays

08/02/2013 - 08h50

The seventh annual Athina Onassis Horse Show, a traditional equestrian event of Rio de Janeiro, was cancelled on Thursday. The event, scheduled to take place in the Centro Nacional de Hipismo de Deodoro (Deodoro National Centre of Equestrianism), was cancelled due to delays in construction work underway at the venue.

In a statement, the organizers said that the competition, which had been scheduled for the 25th and 27th of October, had been rendered impossible as a result of 'danger relating to delays in construction work at the equestrianism venue and its surroundings, in spite of the efforts of the public institutions and private companies involved in the project.'

The event would have taken place in the same venue that will host the equestrianism events in the Rio Olympics of 2016, and had been seen as a kind of warm-up for the games. One of the works in progress is the construction of a grandstand with 2000 seats, with free entry for all.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

Read the article in the original language