Track officials pleased with Metro stadium progress
Published Saturday October 4th, 2008
Moncton to host World Junior Track and Field Championships in 2010
By Gerard McLaughlin
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Over the past two days high-ranking officials with the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) travelled about Moncton, making their first-time visit of facilities for the 2010 World Junior track and field championship.
Construction crews are hard at work on the new stadium at the Université de Moncton. Beams for a section of the stands were being installed yesterday and looked like a giant kids erector set.
This is an artist’s rendition of what the completed Moncton stadium will look like.
"Perfect, simply perfect" were their observations.
In fact, once construction of all facilities is completed in late 2009, Moncton can proudly call itself a premier track and field centre in Canada.
"Moncton is a very attractive city that will be a perfect host city for this event," offered Robert Hersh, the IAAF vice-president from Long Island, N.Y.
Hersh told a late afternoon news conference "the state of Moncton's preparation is well ahead of what needs to be done.
"This is going to be a tremendous stadium, a great facility for the citizens of Moncton. There are not many track and field facilities like this around and the size of the stadium and it's multi-purpose use is perfect for a city of this size."
Joanne Mortimore of Ottawa, chief executive officer for Athletics Canada, echoed the comments of Hersh.
"In our short visit here, the local committee has proven to us they have done their preparation, their research and the passion is there, too," she said.
"We can see they believe this event will be the best ever and we know it will be."
Mortimore also said, when completed, "with this track, and the evolution of this stadium, this will be the best track and field location in Canada. This will be the best there is.
In fact, "super-duper," is how Mortimore described the track and field stadium.
Pertaining to the world championship. Bill Whalen, vice-president of the local organizing committee, said all decisions regarding the facilities will be finalized this year.
Construction of the stadium, adjacent to the Université de Moncton Louis J. Robichaud sports complex, is well under way.
The stadium will feature a Mondo FTX surface, the same as the one installed for the recent Olympic Games in Bejing, China.
Mondo is the name of an Italian company that weaves the material for the surface of the track and the material they use is the highest quality on the market today.
What's also necessary is a warm-up track within close proximity to the main track, and two practice tracks, also within close proximity to where the 1,500 expected athletes will be lodged, which will be residences at the Université of Moncton and Mount Allison University in Sackville.
Hersh said the ideal location for the warm-up track would be adjacent to the main stadium. He also said a few blocks away is possible, but a 15-minute drive by vehicle would be out of the question.
It's believed that fields at Moncton High School and L'Odyssee, both in close proximity of the stadium, have been proposed as potential warm-up locations.
Whalen confirmed that the local committee proposed 'five or six options' to the IAAF group concerning the warm-up and practice tracks.
Hersh said the IAAF will look at the proposals and state their preference about what would work best in a matter of weeks.
Mortimore also confirmed that the 2010 Canadian junior track and field championship, scheduled for late June, would be the test event for the world championship, scheduled a month later.
Paul Hardy, the IAAF competitions director from Monaco, said the world junior is the second largest event under the IAAF wing.
He said the IAAF features 213 federations and expected representation from between 170 to 180 in Moncton.
Besides 1,500 athletes, Hardy said 800-to-850 team officials will also be in the city.
He said the world junior "really does" feature the future world stars of tomorrow.
He claimed Jamaician sprint star Usain Bolt, who set two world records at the Olympic Games, was a former world youth and world junior competitor.
"Moncton has a lot to look forward to," Hardy said. "After the championship here in the next few years, you will see many of these same athletes on the Olympic stage. It's something special, something very special that Moncton can look forward to experiencing."
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