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Olympic rowing regatta called off for day due to more inclement weather

The first of the rowing finals, the women’s quadruple sculls and the men’s quadruple sculls, were due to be contested on Wednesday.

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“No racing will take place today”, a media officer announced this afternoon.

The competition has been dogged by bad weather.

Reigning champions Heather Stanning and Helen Glover were among those due to look to seal a place in their final on Wednesday. It follows a similar blanket cancellation on Sunday because of strong winds.

On Sunday, the crosswinds at Lagoa whipped up such treacherous waves over the mid-section of the course at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon that two boats capsized during early morning training runs, and after several delays the organisers called it off at 10.30am local time.

On Wednesday morning, the weather was very misty and visibility was quite poor, while rain and wind also lashed the events.

“So we stay reasonably optimistic about tomorrow but Friday and Saturday up to now are still staying (as) quite good conditions, much better conditions than we have now, and we remain optimistic that Friday and Saturday are for sure going to be good days”.

The United States Men’s Eight was set to row in a repechage with a chance of making the finals.

Smith said the worst affected area was the starting line and first section.

“Racing is postponed”, an official update read.

“We consulted several forecasts and found that the conditions would be more or less the same throughout the day”.

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If winds force another postponement on Thursday, there are several options to ensure the regatta makes it to the finishing line.

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