Beijing’s Wukesong Sports Center elevated

Article posted by Coliseum, June 17^th, 2020

Image: Beijing2022

Beijing’s Wukesong Sports Center is being modified into an ice hockey facility for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. It was once utilized as a basketball venue for Beijing 2008 also known as the 2008 Summer Olympics. The transformation work news of the sports center was given by the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office recently.

The Winter Olympics reconfiguration project of the multipurpose indoor arena in Beijing is expected to be completed in October this year and will meet the requirements of the test competitions scheduled to be held in April next year.

Ma Xin, Deputy General Manager of Wukesong Sports Center said that the size of the existing ice hockey arena will be changed as per the criteria of the Beijing Winter Olympics. As per requirements laid down by the International Ice Hockey Federation, the 30×60 rink used in previous Winter Olympics will be changed to 26×60 to increase the intensity of ice hockey matches.

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Once the repurposing work of Wukesong Sports Center is through, it will boast two types of convertible ice rinks, 30×60 and 26×60, to enable the operation of the stadium once the competition is over.

The Wukesong Sports Center sits near Wukesong Bridge along Chang’an Avenue, with a construction area of 63,000 square meters and can fit in 18,000 people. After the Beijing Olympic Games, it has been hugely employed as a stadium for sports and recreational activities.

In 2016, the Wukesong Sports Center was the main arena for both basketball and ice hockey events. Once its ice making and dehumidification systems were modified, the arena could be switched between its ice hockey and basketball set-ups within six hours, and many ‘ice-basket back-to-back’ events have been successfully held.

The ice-making system, locker rooms, anti-doping test lab, as well as lighting, network, power and 5G facilities will also be upgraded in the center.

The center has staged several key games during last year’s International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup.

Meanwhile, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games conducted online interviews recently to recruit about 60 employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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