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| Photo courtesy of Manila Bulletin |
Manila, Philippines - The much-awaited
30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) Opening Ceremonies will be held on
November 30th, where athletes around South East Asia nations consisting
of eleven countries will compete with each other on a friendly, professional display
of sportsmanship and camaraderie.
After years
of waiting and sweat and blood preparation for the glorious event that happens
every two years, the long wait is finally happening. *
The first world
class Olympic size stadium of the Philippines
Filipinos
around the world will definitely flaunt with pride and joy as people around the world will witness the Philippines’ first-ever Olympic size, Grade Class 1
Athletic Stadium and Aquatics Center.
The said
world-class Athletic Stadium can accommodate 20,000 audiences while the Aquatics Center is a 2,000 seating
capacities respectively, as the SEA Games will take place at the New Clark City
in Capas, Tarlac.
To give you a walkthrough of our first ever Olympic
Size Stadium where the nine-lane 400-meter track and field oval, and six-lane
warm-up indoor and outdoor tracks were was approved and recognized by the
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)-Rekortan M sandwich
synthetic surface system.
With the approval of the Class 1 facility
certification from the international governing body for the sport of athletics will
mean that the Philippines’ new Athletic Stadium can now host Tier-1 athletics
competitions like the SEA Games, the Asian Games, and the Olympic Games. *
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| Credits to New Clark City Stadium |
According to Shaun Goudie, Sports Group Asia General
Manager, “I really hope that Filipino
athletes can excel on these surfaces. That would really be the icing on the cake
for us: to see them starting to set world records or at least national records
on the track.”
Moreover, SmarTracks, the leader in
giving effective support for assessing speed, endurance, agility, and force, is
providing its service for the accurate time registration and performance analyses
with digital diagnostic technology donated by MTD Philippines, which includes
the 99 SmarTracks timing gates.
While the Stadium’s warm-up tracks
are installed with E-Sport International to capture the precise measurements of
runners that use sensor belts.
Aside from the Athletic Stadium, an Aquatic Center were
built inside the New Clark City Sports Hub for the biennial meet scheduled for
November 30-December 11 courtesy of the Bases Conversion and Development
Authority (BCDA).
The IAAF-certified the
Aquatics Center as Class 1 facility and meets the standards as per Federation
Internationale de Natation (FINA), the international governing body of
swimming, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming, and open water swimming.
Many athletes admired the famous Aquatics Center
including Mr. Ernie Gawilan, also known as the Asian Para Games triple gold
medalist in para-swimming. *
WORLD-CLASS ARCHITECTURE
The Athletics Stadium takes inspiration from the
“caldera” or crater of Mt. Pinatubo and the organic lahar material was used in
the concrete for the stadium’s posts and facade. It is designed after a
volcanic crater, while glass frames adorn the main entrance of the stadium.
Local architecture firm, Budji +
Royal Architecture + Design were commissioned by the BCDA to work on the New
Clark City Sports Hub, inspired from the
surrounding land and to show the Filipino spirit and resilience.
During the Aquatics Center fiberglass roof also displays
the coastal heritage of the Filipino people depicting Capiz shells used as
windows in old Philippine houses, while the structural framing mimics the
weaving patterns of the “baklad’” or woven fish nets while the roof resembles that
of a lit “parol”, a Filipino Christmas lantern, by night.
The Athletes’ Village inside the New Clark City
sports complex will serve as the home of the athletes, officials, and
international volunteers for the entire duration of the 2019 SEA Games.
Its amenities
includes 525 rooms, 95 of which are for PWDs, gym amenities, kitchen and dining
areas, conference rooms, and other recreational facilities. There are even Self-driving
cars that would be shuttle the SEA Games athletes to different sports venues.
According to BCDA, after the SEA Games the Aquatics
Center facilities will be used by local athletes for training and can be used
for venues of different events, concerts, and other sports events.
Opening Acts
The opening show will feature well known Filipino
international pop artist Apl de Ap and the Black Eyed Peas and Filipino
international musical theatre star Lea Salonga in a collaborative show with
Philippine National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab.
The 30th SEA Games Opening Ceremonies on November 30
will feature the arrival of the 30th SEA Games Torch with a design inspired by
the Philippines’ national flower, the Sampaguita. *
