Daegu Stadium ready for athletes and fans

Workers are busy preparing for the opening ceremony of the IAAF World Championships at Daegu Stadium, Daegu, Monday. The championships will run from Aug. 27 to Sept. 4 and about 1,950 athletes from 206 countries will compete in 47 events. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Yi Whan-woo

DAEGU — Nestled in front of Beommul-dong where fog lingers near the mountain peak, Daegu Stadium, the venue for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, looks all set for the nine-day run that begins Saturday.

The white, steely-looking stadium situated amid a verdant landscape features high-end systems for the convenience of athletes and fans arriving from more than 200 countries.

With five days remaining before the worlds, the staff at the venue are busy with final preparations to host athletes and fans around the world.

Formerly used during the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Korea and Japan, the most notable addition to the stadium is the blue track that has been installed to improve the athletes’ concentration. The track was manufactured by the Italian company Mondo.

The facility has been certified as Class 1 by the IAAF and aims to boost the athletes’ performances.

The surface of a Mondo track is known for a more consistent bounce and traction compared to other surfaces. Usain Bolt set three world records, including one at the 2008 Olympics, on Mondo tracks.

In an effort to provide comfort for the spectators and press during the competition, the stadium presents a new main scoreboard at the south end and an auxiliary scoreboard at the north end, along with a temporary electronic board above the seats on the east side. The cost to install these high-definition screens was 4.4 billion won ($4.1 million), according to the organizing committee for the Daegu meet.

Viewers will be able to read even the small letters on the big scoreboards, and their split-screen features will provide the spectators with updates and highlights from different events taking place during the competition.

These screens will also be used to show profiles of star athletes and broadcast interviews with winners of the events.

Along the first floor seats where fans may not be able to see the screens, 80 liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors have been installed every 15 meters.

The committee also boasts of the 252 speakers and 206 amplifiers set up around the stadium, and a dozen public address announcers will be on hand.

For the best coverage possible, Daegu Stadium includes an impressive Media Press Center (MPC), of which the 2,800-square-meter area will provide workstations for 500 journalists and 170 photographers.

Free high-speed Internet access is available at the MPC, including 50 desktop computers with broadband connectivity.

The stadium is also equipped throughout with high-definition TVs screening the games.

The International Broadcasting Center (IBC), the home base for the broadcasters is located west of the stadium.

Other facilities are a 144-seat press conference room and media seating located just above the finish line, to accommodate up to 1,020 reporters.

Along with the stadium staff, the ladies chosen to present the medals at the award ceremony were seen practicing in the center of the stadium.

Outside the venue, massive mobile containers sent by local TV stations as well as overseas broadcaster SKY TV were seen, packed with small screens.

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