The fire started amidst strong winds around 4pm local time in Rio, fanning the flames towards the Deodoro venue. Unconfirmed reports arose at the time that the mountain bike course had to be evacuated as a result but the UCI have since denied these, saying that no athletes were present for the incident.

An official statement from the Olympics organising committee was later released on the matter, stating: “The goal is to prevent the fire reaching the surrounding community. Rio 2016 is assessing the impact on the mountain bike course. There were no injuries.

“High winds made the fire advance close to the mountain bike venue. During the firefighters work to contain it, the fire changed it’s direction and doesn’t represent any risk to the venue.”

If all goes to plan, the Olympic mountain biking will kick off on Saturday 20^th August with the women’s category, and the men are set to take to the track the following day on Sunday 21st.