Success for sporting facilities in the Winchester District
Three venues across the Winchester District are being congratulated for being accepted to feature in the London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide.
The venues are Sparsholt College Equestrian Centre, the University of Winchester’s new Winchester Sports Stadium and Westgate Badminton Centre. The facilities are now in the 600 venue guide and will be available for athletes from across the world to train and acclimatise in their sport ahead of the London 2012 Games.
The guide will be published at the Beijing 2008 Games, with a new website showcasing the options. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) will then decide where to base themselves or where to send individual athletes to prepare.
Cllr Patricia Stallard, Portfolio Holder for Culture Heritage and Sport said, “Winchester City Council would like to congratulate the three venues which have been accepted for the London 2012 Guide. If they are chosen as training camps it will be a wonderful way of participating in the Games. The guide will send out an important message about Winchester’s commitment to sport, demonstrating that we have world class venues here in the district. – venues which have been built first and foremost for use by our own residents.”
The University’s Winchester Sports Stadium, located at Bar End in the City, offers an Olympic standard 400m eight-lane athletics track with supporting facilities for field events, an all-weather hockey and general sports pitch, floodlighting and an extended pavilion. The facilities will be completed in May and will be open to the entire Winchester community.
Tommy Geddes, Pro Vice Chancellor at the University of Winchester commented: “It is great news that our students and the people of Winchester have a stadium that has this formal seal of approval as a high quality venue.”