2011 WU Update: The First Biathlon Facility in Turkey is Ready

The new Biathlon venue

ERZURUM – Mr. Ubaldo PRUCKER, IBU expert and Technical Delegate for the 2011 Winter Universiade in Erzurum and Mr. Muhtar KURT, Chair of Technical Committee of OC EWUOC 2011 informed FISU CTI Chair Roger ROTH and Director WU Milan Augustin about the great progress of the Biathlon venue preparation in Kandilli (Turkey), the venue where the biathlon competition will be held during the 25th WU in Erzurum.

‘Today I can tell you I feel happy and proud. Work for the target installation and the official shooting test has been completed successfully’, Ubaldo Prucker said. ‘The first official “opening by athletes” was made on July 8th at 15:55″. It is an historical moment: the first Biathlon facility in Turkey.’

This facility has been constructed to host the Biathlon competitions during the Universiade Games in 2011, from 27th January to 06th February. Erzurum is a city 1,900 m high from s/l therefore it was necessary, in respect to the IBU rules, to find an adequate place under the limit of 1,800 m s/l. The place is called Kandilli and located at 1,742 m from s/l. It is a huge area, where in previous years, a big military camp was installed. Recently the military camp was removed and different Sport facilities are being installed, together with Biathlon.

The construction of the Biathlon venue started last spring and in its technical part completed just these days with the final installation of the electronically targets system from HORA. It is enormous what has been produced and achieved in respect of the little acknowledgment and experience of the Biathlon family and friends in Turkey. It was the intention and will of the President Mr. Oezer, from the TUR Ski Federation, who strongly wanted and supported this project.

The brand new venue is now ready to host events. The stadium is a quite huge and wide area, leveled and placed in a perfect suitable position. The shooting range had to be turned from its original project, as it showed too much towards the sun rising and influencing the athletes’ shooting process. Now it is facing towards N/W so that during day hours sun has less influence. The shooting area had to be completely excavated into the adjacent hill and the soil removed was placed to level the stadium and penalty loop. The shooting ramp is provided with 150 cm wide concrete basement; the targets basement instead consists of the basement itself in concrete, a protection wall in wood covered up to 2 m in white and a great roof. On the backside of the wall there is large space to place all necessary equipment. On the right hand side of the targets basement there is a smaller storage house in concrete where all necessary shooting and management equipment is placed. The targets service house in wood and placed on the left hand side just in between the ramps and the targets, so that it is possible to have wide view on both parts the shooting and the targets.

All necessary cabling and connections with sufficient plugs have already been installed during targets installation and also tested by the Turkish Biathlon team. The key pad operational system for the targets has already been tested as well during HORA installation.

There are 30 completely new HoRa 2000 E electronic Biathlon targets installed.

The penalty loop is adjacent to the shooting range exit, with great possibility to enlarge or shorten if necessary.

The courses are of different length, in respect of the IBU rules. They are running all around a smaller hill that permits also to have adequate profiles for the different competitions. The first 1.5 km are running all on the same course, after point 1.5 km they are separating and adding the distance necessary for the different length of the required competitions. Courses are sufficiently large, min. of 7 m and already leveled even and clean.

Asphalt courses are in the project and will be completed within fall 2010. It is foreseen to have a 1,5 km – 2 km and a 2,5 km loop with the penalty loop, all in asphalt. The width of the courses will be between 4 and 5 m which is comfortable not only for training possibilities but in particular for bigger Roller Ski events.

A snow making system is already installed and has been tested last Winter. There are sufficient lances and big guns all along the courses so that it will be possible to produce snow on site without having too long ways for transport. A 55,000 sqm water basin is ready to pump water into all pipes to the snow guns, in order to guarantee snow production in case of not sufficient natural snow.

Parking space and drop off ways are already under construction and close to be finished.

A sort of Sport Centre hospitality construction is almost at its final construction phase and will be ready to host teams or groups for training camps and/or events.

The new Biathlon facility is a great opportunity for the development of Biathlon in Turkey, but not only for them, more probably for hosting bigger events in a new Country, in a Middle East Area, so that interesting activities can promote biathlon, involving a huge number of athletes.

(Source: Ubaldo Prucker, IBU Expert)