Olympic Sliding Centre Explained

Olympic Sliding Centre
Native Name:올림픽 슬라이딩 센터
Location:Daegwallyeong, South Korea
Coordinates:37.6536°N 128.6814°W
Broke Ground:4 March 2014
Cost:₩ 122.8 billion
Main Contractors:Daelim Inc
Capacity:Total: 7,000
Seated: 1,000
Standing: 6,000
Website:Track Website

The Olympic Sliding Centre is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track that is located in Daegwallyeong, Pyeongchang, South Korea.[1] The centre is located between the Alpensia and Yongpyong Resort. The venue is one of only two operating sliding facilities in Asia, along with the Spiral in Japan.

It was renamed from Alpensia Sliding Centre to Olympic Sliding Centre in June 2017.[2]

Championships hosted

Track technical details

Construction

The venue was built by Daelim under the responsibility of the Gangwon Province.[3] The construction cost (about), to be shared between the country and the regional authorities: National Government, Local Government .[4]

The construction of the Alpensia Sliding Centre started in March 2014 and was completed in the final months of 2017.[5]

Characteristics

It occupies a surface of 177000m2, and has a range in altitude from 940m (3,080feet) above sea level at the top of the track down to 800m (2,600feet) above sea level at finish line.[6] The track itself is 2018m (6,621feet) long (to commemorate the Olympics), and is 1.4m (04.6feet) wide. The venue can also hold 7,000 attendants, with 1,000 seats and standing room for the remaining 6,000.

2018 Winter Olympics

During coverage of the Games on NBC Sports in the United States, the track was referred to as "The House of Speed" while turns 9-12 were referred to as "Run Breaker" for the fact they slowed down the sleds so much that it costs sliders positions, including medals. The best known example was Germany's Felix Loch who was leading after three runs in the luge men's singles event only to have problems during the final run through "Run Breaker", causing the two-time defending Olympic champion to finish 5th.

Turn 2 was named 'Soju' by sliders, after the local Korean liquor, because "it messes you up."

During the Games, the Turn 9-10-11 sequence was christened the name "The Dragon's Tail". Tweak the Dragon's Tail and you'll pay the price. Other Dragon-based names appeared in the Downhill and Slalom courses, reflecting the importance of the Dragon in Korean mythology.

Turn 14 was named The Olympic Curve - inspired by the PyeongChang 2018 logo, set in the ice.

Track Records

Event! Record! Athlete(s)! Date! Time !
Bobsleigh Two-man Start18 February 20184.85[7]
Track19 February 201848.96
Four-man Start25 February 20184.80[8]
Track24 February 201848.54
Two-womanStart20 February 20185.21[9]
Track21 February 201850.46
SkeletonMen'sStart15 February 20184.59[10]
Track16 February 201850.02
Women'sStart17 March 20174.92[11]
Track17 February 201851.46
Luge Men's Singles Start10 February 20182.545[12]
Track11 February 201847.475
Women's Singles Start12 February 20184.302[13]
Track12 February 201846.132
Men's Doubles Start14 February 20184.174[14]
Track14 February 201845.820

References

37.6537°N 128.6814°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Olympic Sliding Centre | Venues | PyeongChang 2018 | The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games . https://web.archive.org/web/20180210073601/https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/venues/olympic-sliding-centre . dead . 10 February 2018 . 10 February 2018 . 22 February 2018.
  2. News: '알펜시아 슬라이딩 센터→올림픽 슬라이딩 센터' 명칭 변경 . . 27 June 2017 . Korean.
  3. Web site: Read - | DAELIM | . https://web.archive.org/web/20171208231546/http://www.daelim.co.kr/eng/daelim/pr/NewsView.do?idx=11245 . dead . 8 December 2017 . 8 December 2017 . 22 February 2018.
  4. http://www.sportsfeatures.com/presspoint/pressrelease/54305/the-groundbreaking-ceremony-of-the-olympic-sliding-center-for-the-success-of-the-pyeongchang-winter-olympics-2018 The Groundbreaking Ceremony of the Olympic Sliding Center for the Success of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018
  5. http://www.olympic.org/news/groundbreaking-ceremony-held-for-pyeongchang-2018-sliding-centre/227175 Groundbreaking Ceremony held for PyeongChang 2018 Sliding Centre
  6. Web site: Olympic Sliding Centre : PyeongChang 2018 Venue . https://web.archive.org/web/20171209044114/http://2018winterolympicswiki.com/olympic-sliding-centre-pyeongchang-2018-venue/69/ . dead . 9 December 2017 . 9 December 2017 . 22 February 2018.
  7. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics two-man bobsleigh official results . ibsf.sportresult.com . IBSF . 19 February 2018 . 24 September 2018 . 19 June 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180619085734/http://ibsf.sportresult.com/ResultListBackUp/192800.pdf . dead .
  8. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics four-man bobsleigh official results . ibsf.sportresult.com . IBSF . 25 February 2018 . 24 September 2018 . 13 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180713152631/http://ibsf.sportresult.com/ResultListBackUp/192808.pdf . dead .
  9. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics two-women bobsleigh official results . ibsf.sportresult.com . IBSF . 25 February 2018 . 24 September 2018 . 13 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180713152631/http://ibsf.sportresult.com/ResultListBackUp/192808.pdf . dead .
  10. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics men skeleton official results . ibsf.sportresult.com . IBSF . 16 February 2018 . 24 September 2018 . 19 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180219064908/http://ibsf.sportresult.com/ResultListBackUp/192791.pdf . dead .
  11. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics women skeleton official results . ibsf.sportresult.com . IBSF . 16 February 2018 . 24 September 2018 . 17 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180217155150/http://ibsf.sportresult.com/ResultListBackUp/192795.pdf . dead .
  12. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics men's single luge official results . FIL . 11 February 2018 . 24 September 2018.
  13. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics women's single luge official results . FIL . 13 February 2018 . 24 September 2018.
  14. Web site: 2018 Winter Olympics men's double luge official results . FIL . 14 February 2018 . 24 September 2018.