2008 WUC Cross-Country: Update
May 29th, 2007
Mauquenchy/Forges-les-Eaux, in the Seine Maritime Deparment of France, the host city of the 2008 World University Cross-Country Championship, was the location for an early WUC inspection visit on May 23rd and 24th. The visit started with a presentation of the work done so far. The meeting took place at the offices of the University Sports Federation of Rouen. These offices are located on the campus of the University of Rouen. The delegates were welcomed by Mr. Didier Chollet, President of the Regional University Sports Committee and Director of the Ufrs staps. The delegates at this meeting representing FISU were Mr. Till Lufft, Technical Chairman for Cross-Country and Mr. Laurent Briel, Director for the WUC. Delegates of the French University Sports Federation were Mr. Damien Bardot, Marketing Director and Mr. Vincent Rognon, National Vice-Director. Representing the Organising Committee were Jean-François Renault, Charlotte Derome, Arnaud Crochemore and Olivier Leroux.
The following topics were discussed during this meeting: 1. Sports Infrastructure and Equipment 2. Organisation 3. Competitions and Training 4. Results and Information 5. Logistics 6. Protocol 7. Security 8. Medical 9. International Control Commission (Accreditation) 10. General Aspects concerning the Competitions 11. Promotion, Media & Marketing 12. Printed Matters After the meeting a visit of the venues and the accommodations was organized. Venue for the event will be the recently constructed ‘hippodrome de Mauquency’, which is a fantastic centre with all the necessary technical and logistical installations. The venue will be a very comfortable place for organizer and participant alike. The hippodrome can welcome 3,700 participants. One of the delegates described the venue very well: ‘It’s so huge, it seems small’.
Mr. Leroux and Crochemore reviewed all technical details of the race together with Mr. Till Luft. The FISU Technical Delegate for Cross-Country was enchanted by the venue and the designed race track. The OC also foresee a great number of activities linked to the event in order to mobilize a great number of spectators. A number of competitions for the youth, families and sponsors will also be organized together with the set-up of a mini-stadium. There will also be an area promoting the local products and a Village ‘Sport and Health’. During the Championship a colloquium on ‘Sport, Health and Training’ will be staged for the participants. The venue is situated only ten minutes by car from the athletes’ lodgings were plenty of beds will be available. The accommodation of the athletes will be in Forges-les-Eaux, a beautiful Norman village where they will be lodged in bungalows in a green and quiet area with all the necessary facilities.
Venue
Lodging
