BUDAPEST, June 1: Hasty repairs were needed at the modern pentathlon world championships after the portable swimming pool cracked overnight, allowing water to leak and leaving the pool dry.

“We came in this morning to find the pool empty,” Adam Madaras, a spokesman for the championship said on Sunday.

“Apparently the ground shifted and cracked the pool at one of the joints.”

As organisers were reluctant to move the swimming event to a new location, they made emergency repairs and moved the riding event forward to gain time.

“The pentathlon has never been contested at a championship meet with this order of events,” Madaras said.

Organisers also called in the Budapest fire department to help pump water over from a nearby pool to get the facility ready.

Sunday’s event is the last for athletes to gain an Olympic qualifying spot.—Reuters