Organizers forced to fix leaking roof at World Gymnastics Championships

A leaky roof that resulted in water dripping onto the balance beam – as the World Gymnastics Championships women’s team final was being held – at the Liverpool Arena had to be fixed before Thursday’s all-around final, organizers said.

Four American gymnasts and another representing Canada noticed liquid already on the four-inch-wide balance beam and dripping onto it in the team event final, which the US won.

On Thursday, an organizer for the event held in the UK city confirmed there was “a very small leak in the arena roof during competition on Tuesday evening.”  

“Once aware of it, we acted immediately, and contractors have been on-site and fixed the issue. We continue to monitor the situation. This type of incident is extremely rare and we apologize for any inconvenience caused,” the organizer claimed.

At least eight gymnasts fell off the beam during the 24 routines in the women’s team final, according to reporters.

Jordan Chiles, who fell off the beam in qualifying on Saturday, said she noticed that part of the beam was wet during her 30-second warm-up before performing her routine on Tuesday.

“I tried covering it before I could do my 30 seconds, but I was like, ‘I don’t have time for it’,” Chiles said. 

“I was a little confused why there was water, but in that moment you can’t do anything about it, so you just have to go with the flow.”

Speaking to GymCastic, Jade Carey explained how she “was about to do my side aerial, and I was like, ‘Where did that come from?’”

Emma Spence from Canada said that she mentioned the leak to her teammate Ellie Black before they went on to claim a bronze, which was their program’s first Olympic or world medal in a men’s or women’s team event.

As the American team claimed gold, hosts Great Britain clinched silver, with Brazil and Italy rounding off the top five. 

Typically a strong contender, the Russian team was unable to participate due to sanctions stemming from the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) recommendation to ban the country’s athletes from competitions because of the conflict in Ukraine.  

The World Artistic Gymnastics Championships act as a qualification event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with the top three teams in the men’s and women’s team finals taking five quota places and qualifying for the team competition.