(ATR) The potential for a scheduling nightmare exists for the sailing competitions at the Rio Olympics.
After considerable negotiations, it was agreed last November that Rio de Janeiro's Santos Dumont Airport, located next to the sailing venue on Guanabara Bay, would close for four and a half hours in the afternoon from Aug. 8-18 to accommodate the sailing schedule.
But what happens if poor sailing conditions prevent any racing during that specific time window for a given day?
Gustavo Nascimento, sports venue design manager for the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, tells Around the Rings that there is no flexibility in the window and that any races affected by weather would be postponed to the next day during the same specific afternoon time window.
The worst-case scenario could be something like what happens during a particularly rainy Wimbledon or U.S. Open tennis tournament. Enough weather delays and there could be a serious backlog. And unlike those tennis tournaments, there is only a four and a half hour window available for each day.
Why is it so important that there are no flights over the venue during competition? It has nothing to do with the noise level and everything to do with how the sailing events will be televised.
Olympic Broadcast Services and other broadcasters plan to use helicopters to cover the sailing, which requires grounding aircraft coming in and out of Santos Dumont.
Santos Dumont serves as the domestic airport for Rio de Janeiro and, unlike the international airport, operates with strict guidelines. The airport only serves 19 flights an hour, and is operational from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm.
Written by Gerard Farek
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