Olympic Games
Venues-Handball
The romantic sport of handball
Last Updated: Friday, August 7, 2009 | 2:37 PM ET
Bernice Chan CBC Sports
The Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium seen in front of the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Beijing, China. (Elizabeth Dalziel/AP Photo)I’ve passed by a modern chapel-looking building many times along the north fourth ring road but recently I noticed it had the Chinese characters “national gymnasium” on it. It has an Asian-style sloping roof that is supported by cables on two tall towers on both ends.
Handball fans will make their pilgrimage to the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium for the preliminary and quarterfinals of the event in August. Originally built for the 11th Asian Games in 1990, the gymnasium was considered at the time the most up-to-date sports facility in China. It has been updated and refurbished for the Summer Games.
Renovations to this 18-year-old building include reinforcing the venue’s structure as well as expanding it to include 300 more seats to a maximum capacity of 6,300 spectators. As for crowd control, the entrance has been enlarged to ease traffic flow in and out of the venue.
Inside, the odd coloured seats of orange, yellow and turquoise have been replaced with a subtle shade of lavender. The designer who oversaw the renovations says this calming colour was chosen to create “elegance and romance” to the building. The shade adds class, to be sure, but romance? In handball?
After the Games the gymnasium will be used for the Paralympics, as it will be training venue for goalball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing and wheelchair rugby.
