A new sports training center has been erected on Chongming Island of Shanghai, which will be new home to over 2,000 athletes and coaches, reports Shine.
Occupying an area of 558,970 square meters, the Shanghai Chongming Sports Training Center, now the largest one in Shanghai, contains eight basketball courts, two tennis courts, two track fields, two baseball pitches and more.
"It is just so big," Wu Nana, member of Shanghai handball team, expressed her first impression of the sports center to The Paper. "The environment is breath taking as well." Compared to the aged Meilong sports center in Xuhui, in which she has resided for 15 years, Wu confessed that the new base felt like a place for world-class competitions.
Image via The Paper
Apart from appreciation from athletes, it received praises from coaches as well. "The new training center is top-notch from every aspect," commented Zhang Shuo, coach of Shanghai men's epee team. "It will be very helpful in our athletes' training."
It turns out the construction team has been constantly communicated with coaches and athletes about the details of the pavilions (i.e. light and temperature) since the project broke ground three years ago, urging to meet every requirement of them.
Since the training center also serves as athletes' residence, the construction team took athletes' daily need into consideration as well when designing the brand-new base. For instance, both training pavilions and cafeterias are connected with dormitories via corridor bridges. Moreover, advanced ventilation and dust pelletizing systems have been installed as well to grant them a hygiene environment.
Image via The Paper
Speaking of the future of the Shanghai Chongming Sports Training Center, "What we have in mind is an overall national training base," claimed Kuang Zuosheng, director of management center. "The place will serve as a training base for national teams of gymnastics, handball and baseball in the years to come. It's one thing to train athletes for local sports teams, and it's far more significant to develop talents for the country for future Olympics."
[Cover image via The Paper]
