Rain causes havoc with major sports occasions

Sports events across Rotorua fell victim to the heavy rains and wind yesterday, with one event cancelled for the first time in its 12-year history.
Bike NZ pulled the pin on the Rotorua round of the Rabobank MTB Downhill Cup at 8am yesterday. It is the first time in the cup's history that a round has been cancelled.
NDuro cancelled the second round of the Bike Vegas Summer Cup at 8am yesterday and the Blue Lake Rowing Regatta was called off at 8am.
About 200 riders had entered the downhill race, which was due to feature 4X world champion Jill Kintner and former junior world champions Cam Cole and Brook MacDonald.
Race director Pete Calnan of the Rotorua Mountainbike Club said it was "bitterly disappointing" but they couldn't risk anyone getting hurt or hypothermic.
"It's intense up there," Calnan said. "The riders would have loved the trails but there's so much water and the potential for trees to come down. It was too risky for both volunteers on the tracks and those riding."
MTBNZ event co-ordinator Chris Mildon had to make the final call after assessing the site and the likely storm still to come.
"I know that racing in these conditions is a heap of fun and in many ways safer with slippery mud completely washed from racing lines.
"It's an unwelcome first for MTBNZ to make this call but it's been taken with everybody's safety as a priority concern."
Race headquarters for both the downhill and cross-country races were under water, with 15 gazebos destroyed at the downhill HQ.
NDuro announced its cancellation on its website and facebook page.
"Forest conditions are terrible and competitor safety would be compromised," it said.
Organiser Marcus Diprose said this was the first time in four years of holding mountainbike events they had been forced to cancel.
"We went onto the course for a look in the morning and we realised it wasn't good," Diprose said.
"We had a look at the long-range forecast and it said more rain, if not worse. There were a number of considerations.
"We have such a long course we had to make the call that if someone was injured could we get to them easily. The answer was probably not. Driving a vehicle on some of the roads would have been an exercise in itself."
He said he would be in contact with the Redwoods Visitor Centre today to see if the event could be rescheduled.
About 180 riders had entered either the 45km or 25km race.
Meanwhile at Blue Lake, 580 rowers didn't even make it onto the water as organisers made an early decision to call the event off. Yesterday was supposed to be finals day but with rough waters and cold air temperatures organisers decided not to go ahead.
"People were quite pleased we did," Rotorua Rowing Club president Glen Reichardt said.
He said the event would not be rescheduled due to conflicts with other regattas. This is only the second time in 20 years that bad weather had affected the regatta.