947 replies to this topic

[Rafa]

Olympic Green Cluster:
* subject to IOC approval, Copenhagen, October 2009

- Golf*: Metropolitan Golf Club
- Rugby 7's*: New Green Point Stadium
- Football: New Green Point Stadium
- Archery: old Green Point Stadium
- Tennis: Green Point Tennis Precinct
- Triathlon: Granger Bay/Promenade/Urban Park
- Cycling (Road): Beach Road/City Centre
- Swimming (Marathon): Granger Bay

Central City Cluster:

- Sailing: Royal Cape Yacht Club
- Cycling (Mountain Bike): Table Mountain Prologue Route
- Judo: CTICC I
- Wresting: CTICC I
- Fencing: CTICC II
- Table Tennis: CTICC II
- Taekwondo: CTICC II
- Gymnastics Rhythmic: Good Hope Centre
- Badminton: Good Hope Centre

[Rafa]

@Baron:



Fortunately, only 1 venue i.e. Beach Volleyball, will be staged on the other side of the hill, as it has been for previous FIVB events. By 2010 that venue would be connected by the BRT feeder service to the Central City. About 10 km from the City Centre.

I'd say three Main clusters but the IBC/MPC and Media Village at one site could be considered another cluster.

A Harbour cluster assuming land around the harbour is made available. If not, an Olympic Park cluster(as per 2004 bid), about 10km from the City Centre.

If the harbour cluster creates too much congestion(three clusters within a 5km radius!!), an Olympic Park cluster makes more sense, since rail links are already in place and centred around a rail corridor.

Either way, significantly more compact than Rio 2016(not taking a swipe at Rio):

Olympic Green Cluster - Central City Cluster: 1.8km
Central City Cluster - Harbour Cluster: 1km
Harbour Cluster - Olympic Park Cluster: 8km

Only Athletics, Handball and Basketball would require additional venues.

[Rafa]

Seems like Lance Armstrong will put Cape Town's City Centre Mountain Bike Circuit to the test in 2010...

Lance Armstrong to ride the 2010 Cape Epic


Having already had our fair share of 'celebrity endorsement' doubt for this morning - we do however think that the news of Lance Armstrong and his new Radioshack team riding next year's Cape Epic is going to explode the numbers of entries for next year's race.

According to America media reports:

Lance is also looking to do some more mountain bike races including the Cape Epic stage race in South Africa. "He really loves it [MTB racing] and RadioShack is very supportive of him doing things outside like that," said Stapleton. [more]

We really can't see Lance slumming it in a pokey tent drinking Klippies and Coke after a hard day's trail riding 'op die berg', but if you relish the thought of riding in the exhaust tracks of the 'great one' then by all means - go ahead.

It's almost guaranteed however that he'll be airlifted outta there and will spend his evenings being massaged by Minki v/d Westhuizen and drinking Pierre Jordaan Brut with Kaka and David Beckham at the One and Only.

[FYI]

Looks like Durban wants to steal Cape Town's ambitions to become the South African Olympic candidate:

http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/...1216134612.html

[Sir Rols]

FYI, on Aug 27 2009, 05:50 PM, said:

Looks like Durban wants to steal Cape Town's ambitions to become the South African Olympic candidate:

http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/...1216134612.html

If Rio wins in six weeks time, I wouldn't be surprised to see Durban throw its hat in for the 2018 CWGs.

[Rafa]

No offence to Durban but I'm not sure they would click if Rio won.
Not too long ago, the 2010 co-ordinator stated Durban was bidding for the 2016 games even though the deadline closed months before that and the IOC were basically about to announce the candidate cities.

[Sir Rols]

Another view on Durban's ambitions:

Quote

DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Durban's stadium will be one of the most dazzling in the 2010 World Cup but the brash port's ambition soars even higher, like the spectacular arch spanning the arena with a view across the Indian Ocean.

Intensely competitive with the more famous tourist mecca of Cape Town along the coast, Durban is pulling out all the stops to ensure nobody forgets it when the soccer World Cup is over.

Grimier but also more African than sophisticated, Europeanised Cape Town, Durban -- which will host seven matches including a semi-final -- markets itself on its miles of sandy beaches and the year-round warm weather that makes it a winter playground for South Africans.

City officials aim to turn Durban into Africa's capital for sports, entertainment and other events and make no secret of their ultimate target -- to host the Olympics.

A brochure prepared by Durban for the World Cup loses no time in pointing out that the stadium will have capacity for 70,000 people during the football festival but can be expanded to 85,000 for events like the Olympics or Commonwealth Games.

Julie-May Ellingson, the city official heading the 2010 project, said that although a decision whether to bid for the Olympics must be made by South Africa's president, Durban had its eye on the 2020 or 2024 events.

"There is this perception that the world ends after 2010. In Durban we have never ever seen that. Going right back to 2004 we spoke of 2010 and beyond," she told Reuters.

"It is not about what FIFA wants. FIFA will come and go. It's about what is important for the citizens of Durban."

The city has already won a contest to host the 2011 congress of the International Olympic Committee, the first to be held in Africa and a golden opportunity to court top officials.

MODERNISED FACILITIES

To match its ambition, Durban is doing much more than building a stadium for the World Cup.

Sports facilities will be modernised and centralised in the expansive Kings Park precinct where both the new Moses Mabhida and existing rugby stadiums are situated.

"In the next few years, Durban will become one of the few cities in Africa where most of the main Olympic sporting codes can be played in a centrally-located, international-standard destination," a city handout says.

Plans include a retail mall and restaurants in the stadium, a walkway linking it to the adjacent beach, a "People's Park," training pitches, a walking and running track, and space for fans to enjoy barbecues and concerts before and after matches -- an idea taken from the neighbouring Absa stadium.

But it is the new stadium itself that steals the eye. A gleaming white edifice topped by a Teflon-coated roof resembling sails, with the arch rising overhead to dominate the city.

The 350-metre (1,150 foot) long arch is shaped like the Y on South Africa's flag, symbolising the unity of a long-divided nation.

To access the view a "sky car" will run up the single northern span to the 106 metre (348 foot) summit, while intrepid visitors can climb 550 steep steps up one southern arm and down the other in an "adventure walk" like Sydney's harbour bridge.

For the even more adventurous, a bungee swing will be suspended from one of the concrete supporting rungs across the top of the stadium, whose material is intended to prevent dirt marring the brilliant white.

NEW ARENA

As with many of South Africa's new stadiums, Durban has not escaped controversy over the decision to build a new arena right next to an existing one, with critics suggesting the money would have been better used to improve the lot of the nation's army of poor and unemployed.

This controversy also feeds into the traditional rivalry between football -- predominantly a black sport -- and rugby which appeals more to whites.

So far the Sharks, one of the nation's top rugby teams, have resisted overtures to eventually move to Moses Mabhida, but planners have made modifications in changing rooms and elsewhere to ensure it will be suitable for rugby, which brings in big revenue, to encourage them to change their minds.

Like all the cities building new stadiums, officials are well rehearsed in the arguments for spending huge amounts on a new arena -- in the case of Durban 3 billion rand ($370.3 million).

AGGRESSIVE AMBITION

In accordance with its aggressive ambition, Durban wanted a stadium that could compete with the best in the world for everything from sports to pop concerts to religious meetings -- an essential part of the strategy to avoid it becoming a white elephant after 2010.

Remodelling the 52-year-old Absa rugby venue, at a cost of 800 million rand ($98.7 million), would never have achieved that, officials say.

"It became quite clear to us that we could throw as much money as we liked at the Absa stadium and we still would not have ended up with a world-class product to lead us into the future," Ellingson said.

Most working class South Africans seem to agree, despite the eye-watering amounts that have been spent.

"We have to give people what they normally have in London and elsewhere and let them play in a good stadium. So they will go home and tell other people to come," said Durban shuttle driver Joe Mboneni Ndlovu.

Despite all the drive and ambition, winning the Olympics will not be easy. FIFA boss Sepp Blatter had a strong personal commitment to bringing the World Cup to Africa and the tournament already rotates around the continents.

The International Olympic Committee has no such policy so South Africa would need to overcome intense competition from around the globe, which is another reason so much is hanging on how it performs in 2010.

Big problems with transport or accommodation, already highlighted by FIFA as concerns, or a major assault by South Africa's notoriously violent criminals, and Durban's ambition could come to nothing.

New York Times

[Augie4040]

Sir Roltel, on Aug 30 2009, 10:56 PM, said:

Another view on Durban's ambitions:

Cape Town 2024 would be a great Games, Fresh off a CWG would be a great boost.

CHICAGO->RIO->CAPE TOWN would be the best 3 game streak ever.

And after CapeTown a jaunt up to Amsterdam in 2028


If I may be so bold doesn't a CHICAGO, RIO, CAPE TOWN, AMSTERDAM series sound like the coolest set of games ever?!?!






.....I'm conceding that LONDON 2012 will be very milk-toast and very Montreal-esque.

[Sir Rols]

Augie4040, on Sep 12 2009, 05:32 PM, said:

If I may be so bold doesn't a CHICAGO, RIO, CAPE TOWN, AMSTERDAM series sound like the coolest set of games ever?!?!

Whatever floats your boat. Personally, I'm panting for the Tulsa, Birmingham, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh sequence.

[Augie4040]

Sir Roltel, on Sep 12 2009, 02:37 AM, said:

Whatever floats your boat. Personally, I'm panting for the Tulsa, Birmingham, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh sequence.

Minneapolis....you want to know what a Minneapolis games would look like, watch London in 2012, and mentally take away the Landmarks, accents, and celebrities, and thats basicaly what Minneapolis Games would look like.