Beijing venues all set for Olympics
4/6/2008 17:45
Thirty-one venues in Beijing are ready to host the Olympic Games slated
for August 8-24.
The National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, is a
masterpiece for its giant twig-like structure of metal girders and the
bowl-shaped roof.
Covering an area of 20.4 hectares, it seats 91,000
spectators on three floors. The US$500 million stadium is scheduled to host the
opening and closing ceremonies, track and field competition and soccer finals
during the Olympics.
The National Aquatics Center, known as the Water Cube,
resembles a gigantic blue box of bubble-wrap, which looks iridescent, elegant
and magical.
Located in the Olympic Green, it covers an area of nearly 80,000
square meters, with a seating capacity of 17,000. The center will host the
swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo events.
The National
Indoor Stadium joins the group of landmark structures in the Olympic Green,
together with the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. The stadium, with an overall
building area of 80,900 square meters and a capacity of 18,000, will be the
venue for the Olympic artistic gymnastics, trampoline, handball and the
Paralympic wheelchair basketball competition.
The Beijing Shooting Range
Hall, covering a surface area of 45,645 square meters and able to seat 8,600,
will host 10 shooting events during the Olympics and Paralympics. The first
Olympic gold will very likely be decided in this venue.
The Beijing Olympic
Basketball Gymnasium covers an area of 168,000 square meters and has a seating
capacity of 18,000. It has three floors underground and four floors
above.
The funnel-shaped LED display system is used in the gymnasium for
theatrical performances, real-time broadcasts and background
imagery.
Occupying a land surface of 33,320 square meters, the Laoshan
Velodrome shines as a brand new venue for track cycling. The three-story
building is 33.8m tall, capable of seating 6,000, including 3,000 temporary
seats.
The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park will host the rowing,
canoeing, kayaking and open water swimming events, which have a total of 32 gold
medals up for grabs.
With a building area of 31,850 square meters, it
occupies the largest surface area of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games venues. The
venue has a seating capacity of 37,000, with 1,200 permanent seats and 25,800
temporary ones.
The China Agricultural University Gymnasium, the venue for
the Olympic wrestling, spans an area of nearly 24,000 square meters and can seat
up to 8,500 people. After the 2008 Games, the venue will serve as a
multi-functional facility accessible to university students and staff, as well
as the residents in the neighborhood.
The Beijing University Gymnasium is the
venue for table tennis. Covering an area of 26,900 square meters, the gymnasium
has room for eight competition tennis tables and can seat 7,557.
The Beijing
Science and Technology University Gymnasium, with 8,012 seats, will hold the
judo and taekwondo competitions of the Olympic Games and wheelchair rugby and
wheelchair basketball competitions of the Paralympic Games.
With a building
area of 24,383 square meters, the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium has
seating capacity of 7,500. The gymnasium boasts the world's largest pre-stressed
suspension dome ceiling 93 meters in diameter.
The flower-shaped Beijing
Olympic Green Tennis Court is meticulously designed for natural ventilation to
ensure the quality of the competitions for athletes and spectators. With 10
competition courts, the venue covers a building area of 26,514 square meters,
with a capacity of 17,400 seats.
Besides the newly-built venues for the
Beijing Olympic Games mentioned above, there are 11 existing venues in Beijing,
namely the Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium,
Beijing Workers' Stadium, Beijing Workers' Gymnasium, Capital Indoor Stadium,
Fengtai Sports Center Softball Field, Yingdong Natatorium of National Olympic
Sports Center, Laoshan Mountain Bike Course, Beijing Shooting Range CTF, Beijing
Institute of Technology Gymnasium and Beijing University of Aeronautics &
Astronautics Gymnasium.
Still some venues are temporary, including the
Fencing Hall of National Convention Center, Beijing Olympic Green Hockey
Stadium, Beijing Olympic Green Archery Field, Beijing Wukesong Sports Center
Baseball Field, Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Ground, Laoshan Bicycle Moto
Cross Venue, Triathlon Venue and Road Cycling Course.
Xinhua
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