Before the final of the men’s 1,500 meter freestyle, the swimmers had time to be ordered down to the starting blocks, but just before the start signal was to go, the swimmers were called back to the changing room.
– Thunder lurks outside the swimming arena and you don’t want to risk lightning while they are in the water, says SVT’s commentator Niklas Nord.
Since a 1,500-meter race requires a quarter of a time, it played into the decision, they didn’t want to have the swimmers in the pool for that long in such uncertain weather conditions.
– They don’t want to break a 1,500-meter race and I don’t know how that would happen, says expert Lars Frölander.