Beijing’s Universities Open New Gymnasiums for Olympic Competitions

Among venues for next month’s Olympic Games is a new gymnasium at Beijing Science and Technology University. (Images from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad)

The Olympics may inconvenience students who get sent home from Beijing’s universities for the duration of the competition. But after the Games end, students at a number of institutions will enjoy new athletics facilities built for the occasion.

Peking University, for instance, has a new 290,000-square-foot gymnasium that will serve as the table-tennis venue during the Games, seating 7,557 around eight tables. Afterwards it will be converted to accommodate handball, basketball, badminton, volleyball, indoor football, and gymnastics competitions, in addition to table tennis. The building, which has a number of sustainable features, also includes a glass dome intended to remind people of a table-tennis ball’s shape.

Beijing Science and Technology University also has a new gymnasium, a 265,500-square-foot facility in which the judo and taekwondo competitions will take place. Designed by Zhuang Weimin, dean of the Architectural Design and Research Institute at Tsinghua University, the gym will seat 8,000 during the Games and 4,000 afterward. This building, too, has a number of green features.

A new 262,500-square-foot gymnasium at the Beijing University of Technology will house the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics competitions. University officials say the building “boasts the world’s largest prestressed suspension dome,” with a diameter of more than 300 feet. Among the building’s features is an air-handling system designed specifically for badminton competitions, which have precise standards for both temperature and air movement.

The wrestling competition will take place at a new gymnasium at the China Agricultural University. The 258,000-square-foot facility, which was the first of the Olympic facilities completed, seats 8,000.

The Games will also employ existing sports facilities on several campuses. The gymnasium at the Beijing Institute of Technology will be home to the volleyball competition, and the expanded Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics gymnasium will house the weightlifting competition.

Beijing University of Technology’s new gymnasium will be the venue for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics.