Olympic Games
Venues-Equestrian
Old sports stadium gets facelift
Last Updated: Monday, May 26, 2008 | 1:49 PM ET
Bernice Chan CBC Sports
Over 33,000 people attend the Hong Kong Jockey Club 2005/06 racing season opening at Sha Tin Racecourse on September 4, 2005 in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong will stage the equestrian component of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (MN Chan/Getty Images) One of the 11 venues in Beijing that got a facelift is the Olympic Sports Center Stadium. It was built in 1990 for the 11th Asian Games and 18 years later it has a fresh modern look to host the equestrian and running events, the last two competitions of the modern pentathlon. The first three are shooting, fencing and swimming.
The giant oval stadium sits north of the city, with two giant wings partially shielding the stands from the heat and blinding sunrays. Beside it are four small covered towers with swirls, or rotating ramps around them to help ease crowd control in and out of the venue.
This stadium was also enlarged so that it can accommodate 36,000 people, twice as many as before. It includes 50 box seats installed with open ventilation and natural lighting. They all look down on the running track and giant field in the middle.
The venue has also been upgraded with the latest broadcast speakers and colourful LED screens for spectators to get close-ups on the action.
Obstacle course
For the equestrian event, where the competitors have to complete an obstacle course with their horses, special soil had to be created in the stadium. Currently there are no standards in China for equestrian fields, creating a challenge for the venue designers.
As the event is being held during Beijing’s rainy season and the site is only temporary for horses, organizers didn’t feel it was feasible to import special field materials. As a result, designers created their own “red soil” that is skid-proof for horses.
It’s made from crushed red brick, combined with red clay and lime, which meets the needs of the equestrian competition.
After the Games, the stadium will be used for track and field as well as soccer events.
And if this multi-purpose building doesn’t have enough uses, it can also generate electricity as well. The four ramps around the stadium have solar energy power generation boards that can provide over 52,000 kilowatts of power a year. And for this Chinese capital that still heavily depends on coal, this green solution is a good start to cleaner air.
