Rowing cancelled for the day in Rio

The second day of rowing at Rio 2016 has been postponed due to the wind whipping across the Lagoa.

The Olympic regatta got off to a testing start on Saturday, with athletes leaving the water complaining about being made to race in windy conditions.

Many athletes described conditions the worst they had faced, underlined by the Serbian men’s pair capsizing in the Lagoa in the heat before.

The delays mean the Irish crew of Sinead Jennings/Claire Lambe and siblings Paul and Gary O'Donovan won't be in action today.

The International Rowing Federation (FISA) warned worse weather was forecast in the coming days and its prediction proved accurate on Sunday morning.

An initial hour delay to the start was pinned on the weather creating issues with the Albano buoy system, which marks the race course.

Racing was subsequently put back a further hour, before it emanated at 10:17am local time — 13 minutes before the new scheduled start — that the competition was postponed due to the weather.

‘All races cancelled for today’ read the big screen at the Lagoa, but that sign was taken down before most spectators had seen it.