LAUSANNE: International Olympic Committee (IOC) director for the Rio Games, Christophe Dubi, admitted to AFP on Friday that organisers face a race against time to deliver the cycling velodrome in Brazil.
"The track has been delivered and built, the rest of the velodrome and the tests conducted by the International Cycling Union (UCI) are scheduled for June 25," Dubi told AFP.
"We want to validate that date to see if it can be kept, but the timetable is very tight," added Dubi, who spoke to AFP in Lausanne by telephone from Rio.
But Dubi admitted that there were worries over the ability of organisers to complete the velodrome in time.
"It's a target which remains very tight and for which considerable efforts are being made. The (Rio) mayor himself visits it several times a week," he added.
UCI president Brian Cookson spoke of his concerns back in March about the delays in delivering the velodrome and repeated them earlier this week.
Already, the pre-Olympics test events have had to be cancelled.
"When you have a discipline like track cycling, which is so important to the Olympics, then obviously when you see the state of the velodrome, then right now you have maximum pressure being exerted by the UCI," said Dubi, who insisted official training sessions would be held on the track before the Olympics begin.
While most of the Olympic stadiums are ready, some retain problems, such as the swimming pool which has an issue with ventilation.
"It effects the ventilation during the day and the temperature at night," said Dubi.
"We don't have all the technical guarantees but it's not as complicated as the velodrome -- there are solutions, you have to adapt the machinery to the constraints."
The Rio organising committee president Carlos Nuzman will be in Lausanne on Thursday next week to make a presentation on the state of the Olympic venues to the IOC's executive committee.
The Olympics begin on August 5.
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