Guided Tour of the 2017 Roller Games Facilities in Nanjing, China (1/3)
The Annual General Ordinary Congress of the FIRS took place on March 11th, 2017, in Nanjing. The participants had the opportunity to visit the facilities of the next Roller Games. The OLS Team was there and presents you a preview showing of the facilities that will host the events of Rink Hockey, Roller Hockey, Speed Skating and Freestyle Slalom...
Par Alexandre LEBRUN
Part One
A Quick Presentation of the City
Nanjing, literally the « capital of the South » (while Beijing is the « capital of the North ») is located directly above the Yangze River Delta, the first Chinese river, and is the capital of the Chinese province of Jiangsu. The city has now over 8 million inhabitants and is 265 km north-west of Shanghai and 900 km south of Beijing.
On the sports side, Nanjing hosted the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2014 (where speed skating was one of the 4 demo sports), as well as the Speed Skating World Championships in 2016.
The city is presented as being the world capital of Roller Sports by the FIRS, thanks to its involvement in the discipline, especially with the creation of the first museum of skating, that opened in 2016.
Roller Hockey & Freestyle Slalom: Yo Park
These facilities are located in a growing area. Indeed, long avenues devoid of traffic lead to those facilities, and many buildings are at work.
Located near the Youth Olympics Stadium, the part destined to roller hockey is in its final construction phase. A first main hall of 20.000 seats is being finalized and will host the main games of roller hockey. The Roller Games will be the first event to take place in this hall, before the World Championships of Basketball in 2019.
A second hall will host the second part of the roller hockey event. It is also still at work, and will have a 350-seat capacity.
Freestyle Slalom Skating on the forecourt
As for Freestyle Slalom, the event will take place on the sheltered court in front of the main hall of roller hockey. In terms of viewability, the freestyle event will be at the forefront for the spectators arriving on the spot. A specific floor will be set for the event.
Speed Skating: Track, Road, and Marathon
Nanjing Sports Training Center: The Track
The track (with bank turns) is the one that was used last September for the Speed Skating World Championships.
An additional platform will be built to host more seats during the track events.
The Skating Marathon
The marathon event will take place on the avenues nearby, on a dozen-kilometer circuit. Last year, it was in the center of Nanjing.
The Road
The road events will take place on a circuit of about 500 meters, on the side of the Nanjing Training Center.
Rink Hockey: Nanjing Tech University
Located next to a business park and within the technology university, the hall hosting the events of rink hockey has a base of 2.700 seats, as well as 1.700 additional movable seats, for a total capacity of 4.400, with a height of 23.8 m and a volume of 12.500 m2.
The second and third parts of the facilities presentation for the other skating disciplines are coming soon!
Useful Links
Links
Guided Tour of the 2017 Roller Games Facilities in Nanjing, China (2/3)
