The High Performance Centres at
Lee Valley (left) and Loughborough (right) feature Olympic-quality training facilities for elite athletes
CASE STUDY: ALEXANDER STADIUM
B
irmingham’s Alexander Stadium is set to undergo a £12.25m redevelopment now
that Birmingham City Council (BCC) has approved the self-financing busi- ness plan for the scheme. The first part of the S&P Archi-
tects-designed upgrade will be the 5,000-seat stand, which will be built in time for the IAAF Diamond League meeting this year. This two-tier stand is designed to reflect the summer as- pect of athletics with its fabric façade and roof, together with the open as- pect to the track from the concourse. The stand will also contain two floors of office space, to accommodate 250 office workers, below the main concourse level. A gymnasium is also planned and will be available to both club members and local residents. BCC is expecting to fund the
scheme through the rental of office space and gym income. BCC leader Mike Whitby said: “Birmingham will play host to gold medal hopefuls from the USA and Jamaica ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games and, to build on that success, we need the facilities required for the world’s best athletes to compete here on a regular basis.
provide an effective and sustained learn- ing environment,” Sutcliffe explains. Furthermore, the availability of basic
club amenities is also a major problem. “Many facilities require refurbishment to the changing rooms and refreshment ar- eas as well as the athletic facilities, which are essential requirements if parents are going to bring their children to the club on a regular basis.” The problem, he says, lies in the fact
that most of these facilities are either local authority owned or managed by private companies, so the governing body has very limited control over them. “In this current economic climate it’s dif- ficult for local authorities to justify the cost of maintaining tracks – let alone up- grading them,” Sutcliffe says.
Going forward UKA is currently in the process of revising its facilities strategy, which it hopes will
Issue 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
CASE STUDY: LEE VALLEY AND LOUGHBOROUGH B
ritain’s elite track and field ath- letes are set to be given a boost in their preparations for London
2012 with the installation of an Olympic track at two training locations, which will maximise the home advantage for the UK’s top athletes. A replica of the Mondo FX track in-
stalled at London’s Olympic Stadium has been fitted at both UK Athletics’ (UKA) National Performance Centres in Lee Val- ley and Loughborough. The London Marathon Charitable
Trust (LMCT) has provided £220,000 to enable UKA – working with Loughbor- ough University and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority – to lay the track. Only 10 stadiums in the world currently boast
encourage local authorities and privately managed facilities to prioritise athletic provision. At the same time the gov- erning body will also provide technical advice on how best to manage and im- prove existing facilities. This strategy will prioritise the upgrad-
ing of existing tracks in the UK and assist the operators in determining the key improvements needed to benefit local community use. In addition, it will also provide information regarding the tech- nical requirements for the appropriate levels of training and competition. Apart from the specific facilities re-
quired to successfully host athletic events, Sutcliffe says that the key differ- ence between elite level and grassroots requirements tends to be the ancillary fa- cilities required to improve performance. “The track and field event facilities are of course important, but strength and condi- tioning rooms, medical treatment rooms
a Mondo FX surface – two of which are in Beijing, China. The National Perfor- mance Centres are set to be the only training facilities with such a track. UKA’s Lee Valley Athletic Centre di-
rector Dan Pfaff said: “The two National Performance Centres will be the only training centres in the world with this high performance track installed, giving our athletes considerable advantage. “It is super fast and is of particular
benefit to structured running events such as sprints, hurdles and all horizon- tal and vertical jumps. “Training on the track day in and day
out will mean the Olympic Stadium will feel like home to our athletes by the summer of 2012.”
and specialist equipment are the essen- tial components of a high performance centre. Whereas the key considerations at grassroots level are developing potential and retaining interest,” he says. “UKA inspectors already check athlet-
ics tracks across the country on a regular basis to ensure they meet all the require- ments for UKA training and competition. As and when required, they can also ad- vise facility managers and owners on the correct maintenance and refurbishment needed to upgrade the facility for future use,” Sutcliffe explains. The strategy, he says, is further en-
hanced by the fact that England Athletics is beginning to make inroads into the club and coaching scene with a steady growth of athletic networks across the country. “By 2012, properly set-up clubs will be in a significantly better position to cater for additional athletes and grow the talent pool,” he says. ●
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