CSU Meeting in Harbin - Day 2: Satisfaction
September 24th, 2008
Kairis Ulp, CSU Chair
It was already the second day of meetings for the CSU members and FISU staff in Harbin. This time, the floor was given to the OC representatives as they had to present all their reports. After a few welcoming speeches given by Mrs Kairis Ulp, CSU Chair and by Mr. Han Guangru, OC Secretary-General and a brief report given by Milan Augustin, FISU Director for the Winter Universiade, the heads of all the OC departments had the opportunity to give us a general overview of the preparation work. One of the main issues was the situation of the sports venues and the Athletes' Villages: -The construction of competition venues and infrastructure has been basically completed. Alpine Skiing venues at Yabuli Ski Resort are finished. Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom and Slalom events will be held here. The Cross-Country Skiing Venue has five courses, namely one sprint course, two 2.5 km courses, and two 3.75 km courses, which are built in accordance with International Sports Federation Competition Rules. Auxiliary facilities such as Judge Towers and Waxing Cabins near the Start and Finish Area have been put to use. Ski Jumping K90 hill has been tested. The construction of K125 hill is coming to an end and will be finished by late October. The Freestyle Skiing Aerial Venue, built in 1994, has been renovated to meet competition requirements. The newly-built Judge Tower and Freestyle Ski Cross Venue will be completed by October.
Mr Han Guangru, OC Secretary General welcoming the FISU Delegates
Snowboarding and Biathlon competitions will be held in Maoershan Ski Resort. The competition venues for Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom, Snowboard Cross, HalfPipe, Big Air and Biathlon are ready. The multi-functional competition rooms at the Biathlon venue are under construction, and will be put to use by the end of October. All ice sports competitions will be held in Harbin urban area. Speed Skating will be competed at Heilongjiang Speed Skating Gym, which has 2,500 seats. Curling competitions will be held at Heilongjiang Skating Gym, which can accommodate 4,200 spectators. Figure Skating will be competed at Harbin International Conference, Exhibition and Sports Center Gym, which has 10,000 seats. Ice Hockey Women will be competed at Harbin Ice Hockey Gym, which has 5,500 seats; while Ice Hockey Men will be competed at the new Skating Gym of Harbin Institute of Physical Education, which has 2,600 seats. The renovation and construction of the above-mentioned ice venues have all been completed. Competitions of Short Track Speed Skating will be held at the new Skating Gym in Harbin University of Science and Technology, which is being furnished and will be put to use in late October with a seating capacity of 3,800 people. -The construction and renovation of the three Athletes’ Villages are in smooth progress. The maintenance of Heilongjiang University Athletes’ Village has basically been finished. All the facilities and spares will be ready in November. The construction and renovation of the Athletes’ Village in Yabuli has been completed and is being refurnished. All the facilities will be in place this November. The new apartment in the Athletes’ Village in Maoershan will be completed in October, and proceed to finish the facilities. All the athletes and officials participating in ice sports will be accommodated in Heilongjiang University Athletes’ Village with their delegation headquarters stationed here. Besides the Athletes’ Catering Center, Service Center and Accreditation Center, the village is also equipped with various auxiliary service facilities.
Eric Saintrond, FISU Secretary General/CEO
Yabuli Athletes’ Village is located at Yabuli Ski Resort, 195km from Harbin City. This Village will mainly receive athletes and officials participating in competitions of Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined. All the infrastructure and auxiliary services in the village have met FISU’s requirements. Maoershan Athletes’ Village is located in the Maoershan Ski Resort, 90km from Harbin. It will mainly receive athletes and officials participating in Snowboarding and Biathlon competitions. Service facilities are equipped in the buildings around the hotel and totally meet the demands of the event.
Milan Augustin, FISU Director for the Winter Universiade
As you know, an event like the Universiade cannot run without the help of the volunteers. The situation is the following: - Human Resources, Volunteers and Interpreters According to the overall plan of the preparatory work, Harbin OC has established all the 21 departments and 12 sports committees. 1,800 people will take part in the preparation and holding of the Winter Universiade, including 650 Harbin OC staff and 1,100 technical supporting personnel and professionals. Up to now, over 600 working staff and technical professionals have been involved in the preparatory work, all of which have been trained. After training, the rest of personnel will take up their positions in succession as planned from this November to January 15, 2009. The recruitment of volunteers for specific service work has been concluded. There have been more than ten thousand applicants. Harbin OC will select 3,000 people to be volunteers during the games. 100 volunteers have taken part in the volunteering work for Beijing Olympic Games. In addition, 100,000 city volunteers will be at service for the Winter Universiade and in social sectors. The OC also prepared very detailed reports about transportation, catering, medical services, ceremonies and info systems. On behalf of the CSU, Mrs Kairis Ulp thanked the OC people for their excellent work and underlined the fact that the CSU Members feel really confident about the success of this 24th Universiade.
Oleg Matytsin (left) and Leonz Eder
Mr Dong Jinzhon, Deputy Director General, Media and publicity Dept
As a prelude to the Winter Universiade itself, a Congress will be organized at the Harbin Engineering University from 12 to 16 February. The general theme will be: "Nature, Innovation and Transcendence", and a number of sub-themes will be developed in the form of seminars and forums. These sub-themes are the following: Ecological Environment Changes and Winter Sports; Regional Characteristics, Urbanization and Winter Sports; Science & Technology and Winter Sports; University Education and Youth Development; Winter Sports and the Promotion of Youth Health. To prepare this congress, Mr Kolë Gjeloshaj, Chief of staff to the President had a meeting at the Harbin University with Prof Yang Desen. Finally, Leonz Eder, also Chair of the FISU Press Committee, had a meeting with all the people involved in the Media department. At this occasion, Mr Dong Jinzhong made us a detailed report about the situation concerning the running of the MPC during the games. Yvan Dufour , FISU Magazine Chief Editor also attended this meeting.
