Toro Groundsmaster in action
Athletic also use the park for training, and it is the start and warm up area for the London Marathon, so we are working closely with the organisers for next year’s event!”
The test event and beyond
LOCOG has planned eighteen test events for the Olympic Games - of which the equestrian event was the first - involving 5,000 athletes and attended by 250,000 spectators. The objective of a test event is to test the ‘field of play’, i.e. the venue, the technology (scoring/timing/results) and the contractors and workforce. The cross country course was about half the length that will be used for the Olympic event itself, but was representative of the track and terrain that will challenge horses and riders in 2012. “We are very pleased with how it has gone,” commented Lee. “The turf behaved pretty much as expected. One or two shaded areas have cut up, which we were prepared for, and we will cut those out and returf. We will also continue to work on the areas of the course that were not used for the test event and bring the entire track up to the same standard.”
The test event also provided an opportunity to get feedback from some of the sport’s most experienced competitors: Australian team member Clayton Fredericks said after the test event cross country: “It was a little bit slippery around the bends. Maybe they could think about banking the corners to protect the horses.” Lee explained: “The slippery corner was down to an issue with the placing of a jump immediately before an adverse camber. Therefore, one or two horses put their back legs in a low section upon landing, hence the slip. It was, luckily, not a footing issue. We will take heed of this, however, and ensure that the hairpin bends are worked on particularly to get the strongest possible rooting.” The event was won by British rider
Piggy French, who said: “As you walk into the park you get goosebumps. The organisers have done a great job with the stabling, the arenas and the cross-country course. It's going to be fabulous and I can’t wait to come back.”
Acid Grass will be restored
STRI has now returned to a maintenance phase - mowing, watering and aerating for the rest of 2011. After a ‘quiet winter’, preparations for the Olympic event, which starts on 29th July 2012, begin in earnest in March. “We were watering for ten hours a day in the run up to the test event, and have contingency plans in place for whatever the weather throws at us over the next year,” commented Lee. “If it turns wet, we will keep machinery off the course and use smaller equipment wherever possible. The test event has shown us that the surface works for equestrian sport at this level, and we can now build on it for 2012.”
Equestrian events at the Olympics
Part of the Olympics since 1900, equestrian disciplines are the only Olympic sports in which men and women compete on an equal footing. Greenwich Park will host Dressage
and Paralympic Dressage, Showjumping, Eventing (a three phase sport comprising dressage, cross country and showjumping) and Modern Pentathlon. Facilities include a 5800m cross country course (2800m of which was used for the test event), 90x113m all weather surface arena, stabling, grass and all weather practice arenas.
The Olympics and the community
Greenwich Council has been closely involved in the management and restoration of the site; leader Chris Roberts points out that the Games benefits local employment and businesses, and will drive tourism in the area.
It has committed £20m to the
project, which will include raising twelve parks to Green Flag status, planting numerous trees and making improvements to children’s play facilities.
The community has also been involved - local schoolchildren will help to design a ‘Greenwich’ jump for the cross country course and, when 1,000 tickets were offered for the
equestrian test event, the council received 12,000 applications.
Lee Penrose 101
Roman temple revived
This fence is on the site of a Roman temple which had been repeatedly excavated, leaving a rough, damaged surface. Local archaeologists excavated the site once more to the ruin, and mapped and charted it fully before it was capped and turfed by the contractors.
“This is our part of the legacy – the temple is now protected and won’t be dug up again,” explains Lee.
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