Four World Games Champions and the man in charge of ‘setting the stage’ to win a gold medal were on the podium of the IWGA press conference this morning at the Main Media Center together with the IWGA President José Perurena. The gymnasts Sara Moreno and Vicente Lli from Spain, winners of the gold medal in Aerobic Gymnastics Mixed Pair and Sung Kyn Song and Jo Sun Ryn from Korea, gold medalists in Aerobic Dance attended the press conference together with Grzegorz Pyzałka, the Sports and Venues Director of the Games. And indeed ‘setting the stage’ was one of the topics of the panel conducted by Anna Jacobson, IWGA Spokesperson.
The IWGA President promised on Thursday that the local organizers would provide venues of very high quality. This morning Perurena stated that the Wroclaw organizers had delivered accordingly. The standard of the venues even impressed the observers of the IOC.
Or to say it with the words of Vicente Lli: “It was the best experience ever.” He was not only describing the competition and the atmosphere at the Centennial Hall where they achieved their second gold medal in the row after winning the competition in Cali 2013 as well. He also praised the perfect conditions at the venue which enabled them to perform at their best. Sung Kyn Song and Jo Sun Ryn shared his opinion about the setup for the competition on Friday.
The praise was well received by Greg Pyzałka, the Sports and Venues Director of the local organizing committee. Together with his team he has worked for years to get everything in place for the competition. Asking whether he got anz sleep last night, he answered: “Thank you, I had some hours of sleep this week. That’s fair enough. ” Greg Pyzałka and his colleagues are responsible for 24 venues, including venues which do not exist yet, like the ‘field of play’ for wakeboarding and waterskiing. Right now there is just the river Odra and its banks. During the next days the local organizers will install stands for the spectators along the riverbanks, and prepare the dedicated part of the river for the two days of competition which start on Thursday.
Moreover, the hosts of Wroclaw 2017 already have in mind how to make use of the venues and the equipment for the time after the 30th July when the games are over. That’s what people call legacy. José Perurena explained: ”It’s one of our rules that we encourage the host to make use of already existing venues. We don’t require white elephants.”
By ‘white elephants’, he means venues without any use after the event. Sustainability is one of the keywords when it comes to awarding a new host city. 50 million Euros were spent by the local organizers to prepare an infrastructure which enables athletes and spectators to have the “best experience” ever. Greg Pyzałka gave an example of how the city makes use of this investment for the citizens of Wroclaw. “When we closed the new built Roller Skating track for The World Games people showed up every day to ask when it will be opened again for the public.”
In terms of the equipment, the local organizers found agreements with the National Federation of The World Games Sport. They will take over the equipment, such as mats and nets, and it will help them to provide better conditions for training and competition. Part of the legacy of The World Games is to prepare new talents for their best experience ever.
