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Preparations at Ještěd and in Vesec reach climax!
Saturday February 12 2011 05:13 PM
After a day of rainy weather and temperatures well above zero, the last day before the Opening of the 10th European Youth Olympic Winter Festival (EYOWF) 2011 came with a clear sky and freezing temperatures. The clouds disappeared and the sun came up on a blue sky with temperatures below zero so the organisers could get down to the final stages of the preparations at the venues with zest.
Under Ještěd, the symbol of Liberec, the Ski Jumping hill towers above the city. On Tuesday 15th February, the first individual race in Ski Jumping will take place there. The competition will be held on the smaller of the hills HS100 and the preparations have reached their final stage. The venue will not only host the individual and team races, but also the first part of the Nordic Combined race. The good news is that neither the warm weather, nor the weather that has afflicted the venue in the past few days will spoil this great sporting experience for the athletes and fans. The in-run tracks have been carved, the landing slope is prepared and it only needs a few finishing touches, which are currently being carried out, for the ski jumping hill to meet the athletes’ every expectation.
Right next to the Ski Jumping venue is the downhill slope, where all the Alpine Skiing disciplines will take place. This morning, 12th February, when we last visited the venue, the whole course was in excellent condition and a group of organisers was carrying out final adjustments to the finishing area. One of the volunteers took a short break and shared his impressions with us. "The weather over the last few days was not in our favour, but we are trying hard to offer the athletes the best possible conditions. I think it is going to be a wonderful sporting experience, not only for the Festival participants, but for everyone who comes to Ještěd to join the fans." The Alpine Skiing begins under Ještěd with the Girls’ Slalom on Monday morning, 14th February. By then, everything should be 100% ready.
Any doubts about the Cross Country Skiing venue in Vesec have also dissipated. The relentless rain on Friday caused the organisers to worry and the question was whether the inclemency would interfere with the Festival's programme. Today we can confirm that the Cross Country trails are ready for the start on Monday of all the disciplines, which include the 7.5 km girls and the 10 km boys classical technique.
On Friday morning, the Czech athletes trained on the 2.5-km-long circuit for a second day. Petra Hynčicová, who will carry the Olympic Torch at the Opening Ceremony on Sunday, was one of them. One of the hot favourite to win a medal, Petra Nováková, has also been testing the tracks before the races start.
Other delegations will join local athletes during an official training session which starts at 10:00 on Sunday morning. For the first time we will be able to see skiers from the most successful delegation in the history of EYOWF – the Russians. They hold 56 precious metals from the Cross Country trails of the nine previous Festivals.
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