Police to investigate fire at Rio de Janeiro Olympic velodrome

The Brazilian police will investigate the causes of the fire that burned part of the roof of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic velodrome on Sunday morning and caused damage to this multi-million-dollar facility, which has seen very little activity since its debut for the 2016 Games.

The Olympic Legacy Management Authority (AGLO) announced in a statement that it had decided to take legal action to clarify the causes that triggered the fire, as it is a federal crime.

According to Sports Minister Leonardo Picciani, the blaze - which did not cause any casualties - could have been caused by the fire from paper balloons flying over the area in combination with hot air.

"The Ministry of Sports deeply regrets the incident that occurred this morning at the Barra Park Velodrome, and at the same time, criticizes this criminal practice of releasing balloons," wrote Picciani on his Twitter account.

A part of the roof began to burn around 12:30am local time, alerting neighbors who notified the firefighters. Two hours later, the fire was extinguished, also leaving damage to its delicate track, according to images published by GloboEsporte.

At that time, concerns were raised over whether its exclusive cooling system had been affected, which was later denied by AGLO.

Built with Siberian wood, the velodrome track is considered one of the fastest on the planet, and was the scene of ten world records during the Rio-2016 Games.

To keep it preserved, the air conditioning must be permanently on, even though the venue, like the rest of the Olympic Park, has not seen much use since its debut a year ago.

This velodrome has been no stranger to controversy since it experienced significant delays in its construction, which were only completed a month and a half before the Games, forcing organizers to cancel test events.

The project ultimately cost 168.4 million reals (around 48 million dollars at the exchange rate of the time), despite another velodrome being built for the 2007 Pan American Games. That venue could not be preserved because it did not meet the requirements of the International Cycling Union (UCI) for the Games.

Reopened in May after eight months of closure, it now hosts high-level training and was supposed to be the venue for a karate competition on Sunday, which had to be postponed.