Medeo

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Ice rink Medeo 2011
The Medeo ice stadium, behind it the Medeo dam , which was completed in 1972, can be seen - a protective device for the stadium and Almaty against mudflows and debris flows .
Medeu- 3.jpg
2011 Asian Winter Games , Kazakhstan versus Mongolia

The speed skating and bandy rink in Medeo (or Medeu , from kas. Медеу ) is located about 16 km south of Almaty in Kazakhstan . Surrounded by the more than 4,500 meter high mountain peaks of the Transili-Alatau, the run is one of the most famous speed skating rinks in the world. The stadium, which opened as a natural ice rink on February 5, 1951, is located at an altitude of 1701 meters and can accommodate 12,000 spectators. Between 1951 and 1971, 64 world records were set here and, after the conversion into an artificial ice rink, a further 126 world records by 1987.

For a long time, the Medeo ice rink was reserved for top athletes from the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc and only “second-rate” athletes were allowed access from other nations. The established records were therefore often beyond the knowledge of “Western” experts and were acknowledged with doubts or not recognized.

In 1970 a debris flow spilled the stadium near Alma-Ata or today's Almaty. In 1972 a new lift was opened at an altitude of 1711 meters. The artificial ice there, made from soft, low-salt water, has a particularly smooth surface structure. In 1988 the speed skating all-around world championship was held here. In addition to the ice rink, there is also a 112 × 40 m playing field, where the Dinamo Alma-Ata bandy team used to play their home games.

With the award of the Winter Asian Games 2011 to Almaty , various renovation work on the track was tackled. The renovations should offer the best conditions for the upcoming speed skating competitions and put the track back into the international focus. But the hopes were not fulfilled. In contrast, in Nur-Sultan (until 2019 Astana) , the new capital of Kazakhstan since 1997, a new ice rink " Ice Palace Alau " was built for speed skating, ice hockey and short track, in which the competitions of the 2011 Asian Winter Games were held. Instead, the games are played in bandy in Medeo , and the 2012 World Bandy Championship was also held in Medeo.

At the beginning of 2017, the speed skating competitions of the Winter Universiade 2017 took place in Medeo.

Web links

Commons : Medeo  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Speedskating News, accessed on March 7, 2011
  2. ↑ a b c d DER SPIEGEL, December 24, 1973: "What water"
  3. ↑ a b c DIE ZEIT Online, February 8, 1974: "All in Alma-Ata"
  4. ↑ Two legendary ice rinks are about to reopen - www.speedskatingnews.info

Coordinates: 43 ° 9 ′ 27 ″  N , 77 ° 3 ′ 31 ″  E