Whistler Sliding Center
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 Whistler , Canada
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Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 27 ″ N , 122 ° 56 ′ 42 ″ W.
The Whistler Sliding Center is an artificial ice rink for luge , skeleton and bobsleigh in the Fitzsimmons Creek Valley in Whistler , Canada . It was the venue for the luge, skeleton and bobsleigh competitions at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver . The construction of the railway cost 68 million euros.
history
Vancouver prevailed against Pyeongchang and Salzburg in 2003 as the venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics. As a result, the construction of an ice channel was announced on November 15, 2004.
The basic design and the driving dynamics calculations were carried out by Udo Gurgel from the Leipzig engineering office Gurgel + Partner (IBG), the detailed planning was carried out by Stantec Architecture Limited, an architecture office that also built the ice rink in Park City, Utah (USA), the venue for the 2002 Olympic Games , designed.
The construction of the construction site began on June 1, 2005. From June 2005 to December 2007, at least 60 workers were constantly busy with the construction, during the main construction period in summer 2006 it was even up to 500 workers. Construction work was completed in November 2007. The subsequent test phase lasted until 2008.
The construction costs, initially estimated at 55 million Canadian dollars, were exceeded by far with an eventual cost of 100 million Canadian dollars, but should pay for themselves through the training of international teams.
During the final training session on February 12, 2010, a few hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic competitions, the Georgian luge driver Nodar Kumaritashvili died . He succumbed to his serious injuries sustained in an accident in the target area after he skidded in the Thunderbird curve, the last of the 16 corners of the 1,374 meter long track, was catapulted out of the track after the corner and hit a steel girder of the railway roof, which was open to the railway, had hit. The last speed measurement shortly before the target curve, which was already slightly uphill, was 144 km / h. Despite the immediate resuscitation measures taken by the helpers, the Georgian died on the way to the hospital.
Criticism and reactions
Even before Kumaritashvili died, criticism of the planning of the Whistler Sliding Center had risen; the railway was rated by many experts as being too fast and uncontrollable. These positions were continuously taken into account during the Olympic luge competitions by shortening the race distances so that the men started from the women's start, the women and the doubles from the junior start. For the bobsleigh competitions, an attempt was made to defuse the track by adjusting the ice thickness, especially in the most criticized combination of curves 11–12–13–14. Nevertheless, there were numerous falls during training and also in competitions, some of which were more serious, after which several teams decided to withdraw from the bobsleigh competitions.
Records
On this track was in the training runs for the XXI. Olympic Winter Games , at 154 km / h, the highest speed ever recorded for luge. This record was set by Manuel Pfister .
- Track records
| Men's sledding | Women's sledding | Two-seater | Two-man bobsleigh men | Two-man bobsleigh women | Four-man bobsleigh | Skeleton men | Skeleton women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46.808 seconds - 2009 | 48.992 seconds - 2009 | 48.608 seconds - 2009 | 51.95 seconds - 2009 | 53.53 seconds - 2009 | 50.86 seconds - 2010 | 53.67 seconds - 2009 | 54.81 seconds - 2009 |
- Starting records
| Men's sledding | Women's sledding | Two-seater | Two-man bobsleigh men | Two-man bobsleigh women | Four-man bobsleigh | Skeleton men | Skeleton women |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.541 seconds - 2009 | 7.183 seconds - 2009 | 7.054 seconds - 2009 | 4.70 seconds - 2009 | 5.17 seconds - 2009 | 4.70 seconds - 2010 | 4.52 seconds - 2009 | 4.97 seconds - 2009 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Whistler Sliding Center: Facts & Figures ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Whistler Sliding Center: Venue Fact Sheet ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF, 1.83 MB)
- ↑ Ulrike Pape: Vancouver 2010. The top 5 Olympic sites. 3rd place: Whistler Sliding Center - a real high-speed train. FOCUS online from February 3, 2010
- ↑ Steven Jörgensen: Olympic track designer Gurgel: "I'm so sorry for the boy" Sportbild.de from February 12, 2010
- ↑ Toboggan dies after a serious fall. Spiegel Online from February 12, 2010
Web links
Competition venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics
