Olympic Games
Venues-Beijing University Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium
Space-age weightlifting stadium
Last Updated: Monday, August 17, 2009 | 5:24 PM ET
Bernice Chan CBC Sports
The general view of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium in Beijing, May 12, 2008. (Liu Jin/Getty Images)The weightlifting competitions will be out of this world at this summer’s Olympics. They’re being held at the Beijing University Aeronautics and Astronautics Gymnasium.
Located in northwest Beijing, the gym is part of a school to train China’s future astronauts. That probably explains the strange architecture of this building. At first glance it looks like a giant space ship, with a pyramid frame and the four sides jutting out like A-shaped wings on their sides.
Built in 2001, the gymnasium was the site of the World University Games and considered the best volleyball venue nationwide. For this year’s Olympics, some upgrading and expansion was made to the grey metallic building to host the weightlifting events.
The interior is being fixed up so that there will be a competition platform for the weightlifting, a giant screen behind it, and surrounded by seating on the other three sides. An extra 3,000 seats were installed to accommodate 6,000 fans.
