Velodrome

Venue

Velodrome

Capacity

6 000

Completion date

February 2011

Sports

Cycling - Track

Events

Latitude/Longitude

51.550365/-0.015171

Transport links

Tube - Stratford; Rail or Docklands Light Railway - Stratford International Station, West Ham Station

Cycling Track

Sir Chris Hoy, a winner of three Olympic gold medals at Beijing 2008, helped to design the newly constructed 6 000-capacity Velodrome. The venue is situated in the north of the Olympic Park and will form part of the new VeloPark complex after the Games, which will be open for use by elite athletes as well as the local community

The venue has two distinctive features - the curved roof compliments the curves of the track underneath it and the 360-degree glass wall gives spectators a view across the Olympic Park and allows people outside of the venue to see the action taking place inside.

Velodrome Preview

DSTV content

Interesting Facts

Design

The graceful structure designed by Britain-based Hopkins Architects has been called "the Pringle" because of its visual similarity to the canned potato snack
Sir Chris Hoy, triple gold medal-winner at the Beijing Games, was involved in the design process of the Velodrome
Natural ventilation and natural light reduces the amount of energy used.
The glass wall between the lower concrete and upper tiers gives spectators a 360-degree view across the Olympic Park and allows people outside to look inside at the action.
The bike track is expected to be the fastest in the world.
It is also designed to evenly distribute noise from the cheering crowd to keep from distracting riders.

Construction

It was constructed from March 2009 to February 2011.
The surface of the 25m track consists of 56 000m of timber fixed with more than 300 000 nails.
The roof, designed to mimic the geometry of the inside track, is constructed of lightweight cable netting (16 000m of cabling, covering an area of 12 000 square meters. It collects rainwater to recycle within the building.
The Velodrome, which hosts the track cycling events, will have seating for 6 000 spectators split across a lower tier and two upper tiers within the two curves of the venue’s roof.
A new mountain bike course and road-cycle circuit will be added to develop VeloPark for local community, sports clubs and top athletes.
The Velodrome roof is made from more than ten miles of steel cables.

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