The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic GamesAugust 8-24 2008
(BEIJING,September 11) -- The Olympic Triathlon Venue, described as "the most environmental-friendly triathlon venue in the world" by the International Triathlon Union, has been inaugurated recently.
Located at Ming Tomb Reservoir in Changping District of northern Beijing, the venue has a floor area of 11,767 square meters. It is one of the eight temporary facilities among the 31 Beijing-based Olympic venues.
Its major components include a swimming venue and conversion zone with a length of 546 meters and a width of 27 meters at the foot of the reservoir's dam; a stand on the dam's slope with temporary seats for spectators and media, in addition to a VIP lounge; functional rooms and auxiliary facilities for press conferences, logistics and security purposes. The project also involved the construction of a 680 meter-long road for the cycling section of triathlon.
The triathlon event consists of a 1.5km swimming, a 40km cycling and a 10km long walking track. The conversion zone will be used twice to take bikes and change shoes, with swimming taking the lead and walking bringing up the rear. For the first time in the triathlon's history, movable plastic racing tracks were used. The 20,000 square meter plastic tracks were made of worn tires by a Zhejiang company specialized in environmental-friendly products, and the tracks can be taken off in five hours to be reused in a school sport ground renovation project after the competitions.
The stand adjacent to the conversion zone is another customized facility. Arrays of blue chairs on the slope are in harmony with the surrounding landscape, giving spectators a pleasant view of the reservoir.
As required by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the stand will be equipped with 10,000 seats, which occupy two thirds of the dam slope. To allow spectators to follow the competitions, big screens will be set up in the venue. 170 media seats have been planned, with a number of desks for the press media.
At the entrance of the venue, a 19 meter steel overpass has been built temporarily to ensure safety of the athletes, officials, VIPs and pressmen. It can be taken off quickly after the competitions.
As a national scenic spot, the Ming Tomb Reservoir has a water space of 3.02 million cubic meters and the waters there are fit for Olympic competitions. In 2005 and 2006, two consecutive triathlon World Cup competitions were held there.
Compared to the World Cup last year, a 680 meter long and seven meter wide cycling road has been added. The road is flanked by 2,300 cubic meters of wave protection slopes with grass and trees.
