The Barra Velodrome was a

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...

venue located in

Barra da Tijuca Barra da Tijuca () (usually known as Barra) is an upper-middle class neighborhood or bairro in the Rio de Janeiro#West Zone, West Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in the western portion of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known ...

, in western

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, and was one of three venues constructed as part of the City of Sports Complex for the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

, where it hosted

and speed roller skating events. The venue was initially slated to host cycling events for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, but was instead demolished in favour of the replacement

Rio Olympic Velodrome The Rio Olympic Velodrome, officially the Velódromo Municipal do Rio (''Rio Municipal Velodrome''), is a velodrome located in the Barra Olympic Park sports complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Built as a replacement for the former Barra Velodro ...

, after the

International Cycling Union The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing licenses to riders and enforces disci ...

(UCI) deemed the venue unsuitable for the games. The

Olympic Aquatics Stadium The Olympic Aquatics Stadium () was a temporary aquatics center in the Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro. The venue hosted the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics, swimming events, Synchronized swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Synchro ...

now occupies the former site of the velodrome.

History

The facilities planned for the 2007 Pan American Games included the City of Sports Complex on the location of the Nelson Piquet International Autodrome, which encompassed an indoor arena, an aquatic center and a velodrome. The indoor arena for track cycling would be the first in Brazil and second in South America with a wooden track, designed and built in the Netherlands with

Siberian Pine ''Pinus sibirica'', or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the l ...

by Sander Douma Architects. It would originally be a temporary facility, but by 2007 the Rio city administration decided to turn into a permanent one. Legal and bureaucratic issues made construction, which was supposed to have ended by the end of 2005, only pick up in early 2006, and the buildings were delivered in July 2007, shortly before the games. After the conclusion of the games, the Barra Velodrome quickly became obsolete, as the venue failed to attract events in the years following the Pan American Games. After Rio de Janeiro secured the rights to host the

and

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

, the velodrome was penned as the venue for

. However, in 2013 the International Cycling Union (UCI) declared, to the dismay of taxpayers and local media, that the Barra Velodrome was not suitable to host Olympic events. The UCI cited various problems with the venue infrastructure, such as the pillars of the venue partially obscuring the view of the spectators and judges, and the track's design being unable to allow a cyclist to travel as fast as and - the requirement by Olympic standards. Riders during the 2007 Pan American Games were only able to achieve top speeds of . It was decided after the fact that a brand new velodrome was to be built for the Olympics, and the Barra Velodrome be demolished, in a new plan for the rechristened

Barra Olympic Park The Barra Olympic Park (Brazilian Portuguese: ''Parque Olímpico da Barra''), originally the City of Sports Complex, is a cluster of nine sporting venues in Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The park, which served as t ...

. Upgrading the existing velodrome to meet the standard required by the UCI, according to the

Mayor of Rio de Janeiro This is a list of mayors of Rio de Janeiro. History The city of Rio de Janeiro was founded in 1565. It was the seat of the Crown captaincy of Rio de Janeiro, a district of colonial Brazil under Portuguese rule. In 1763 Rio de Janeiro city becam ...

Eduardo Paes Eduardo da Costa Paes (, born 14 November 1969) is a Brazilian politician who became the mayor of Rio de Janeiro from 2009 to 2012, reelected for a second term from 2013 to 2016 and a third in 2021. He is the city's 13th mayor. On 12 August, ...

, would cost equally as much as building a brand new venue. The original pieces of the velodrome, including entire track support structure, the grandstand seats, metallic structure and roof, light fixtures, windows, doors, elevator, pipes, aluminium frames, ducts, hydraulic and fire venue material, and the power substation electrical equipment, among other items, were sent to

Pinhais Pinhais is a municipality in Paraná state in Brazil. As of 2020, the population was 133,490. It was emancipated from the municipality of Piraquara Piraquara is a municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil. The munici ...

, in the Brazilian state of

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

, for use in construction projects in the city. The

, constructed north of the site of the Barra Velodrome, served as its replacement, hosting track cycling events at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The temporary Olympic Aquatics Stadium, which hosted

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

, was built on the former site of the Barra Velodrome. It will be succeeded by two smaller swimming venues after the conclusion of the games.

References

External links

City of Sports Complex
Rio 2007 official website (archive.org copy) {{coord, 22, 58, 47, S, 43, 23, 40, W, display=title, type:landmark Venues of the 2007 Pan American Games Velodromes in Brazil Sports venues in Rio de Janeiro (city) Cycle racing in Brazil Sports venues demolished in 2013 Demolished buildings and structures in Brazil Defunct sports venues in Brazil Demolished sports venues

History

See also

References

External links