4000 spectators, 390 shooters, 15 events and innovative venues: Shooting at the 2012 Olympic Games.
The ISSF Administrative Council, meeting in Munich on June 17, heard the report on the preparation of the 2012 Olympic Games from LOCOG Shooting Manager Peter Underhill.
The Olympic Venue
The 15 Olympic shooting events will take place at the Royal Artillery Barracks – RAB – venue from the 28 of July through the 6 of August 2012 on a temporary venue, which was designed to be very compact and sustainable.
The location in the river area, which was highly supported by the ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña, “will maximize the presence of spectators, and will turn in favour of our shooters;” Mr. Underhill stated.
Located in the Woolwich area, in the so-called River Side, East London, the shooting venue will indeed lay in the heart of the 2012 Olympic Games, just 20 minutes far from the Olympic village, and relatively close to other sport venues.
The Shotgun range will provide three combined layouts for Trap, Skeet and Double Trap events. To recoil the lead and the targets, an innovative 26-meter high green net will be placed 80 meters far from the shooting posts, creating an amphitheatre background.
The Rifle and Pistol competition hall - which was redesigned to host 10 and 50-meters event - the 25-meter and the Final halls, are being constructed with innovative techniques.
The whole venue will be able to host 4000 spectators, with 2500 spectators’ seats available in the Rifle & Pistol Final hall.
Next Milestones
The ISSF President, Olegario Vazquez Raña, the ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber and the ISSF Vice President Gary Anderson participated in the first ground braking, last April 5.
The 25-meter and the Final halls will be delivered by October, while the other buildings should be completed by the end of November. All the equipment will then be installed and tested by February 2012, in time for the 2012 test world cup.
Test event
The “London Prepares” test world cup will be conducted from the 18 through the 28 of April 2012, when all the 15 Olympic Shooting events will be conducted on the Games layouts. The Shooting test World Cup is announced to be the largest event out of the 43 test matches that will be conducted in London among all the Olympic sport, with several hundreds of participating shooters.
Right before the test event, from the 15 trough the 18 of April 2012, the ISSF General Assembly will meet at the Grange Tower Hotel, where more than 200 delegates are expected to attend the assembly.