Like new: The canoe slalom competition course in Augsburg has been renovated from the ground up for more than 20 million euros. The canoe slalom world championships are to take place there in the summer.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
Those responsible are certain that the water will still flow. At the latest for the Canoe World Championships in July, for which the facility was finally prepared at great expense. At the inauguration of the completely renovated canoe route in Augsburg, the channel through which the canoeists steer was more like a trickle: the Lech, which feeds the route, currently has too little water, which is why it cannot be drained away. “Otherwise the fish will have a problem,” said Augsburg Mayor Eva Weber.
The water is yet to come, and the freshly sown grass on the terraced rows of spectators will also sprout by July. The head of the canoe association, Jens Perlwitz, also emphasized that it is a special facility that the people of Augsburg have renovated, it is “the mother of all canoe routes” that was built 50 years ago for the 1972 Olympic Games as the world’s first artificial white water route – it has also been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for a few years.
At the opening, Mayor Weber immediately recalled the pictures that not only older Augsburgers know live, but also younger ones from pictures: around 50,000 spectators crowded the Olympic Games on the terraces at the competitions for the canoeists from Munich were outsourced to Augsburg. “The kids were literally sitting on the edge of the water,” Weber said. The first artificial white water stretch is still a model and inspiration for many other artificial channels worldwide, in which canoeists dash through white water. The facility has been under monument protection since 2017, and since 2019 it has been one of 22 Augsburg stations on the UNESCO World Heritage List, which was awarded to the city’s water management system.
The top canoeists are enthusiastic about the route
The architectural design and the appearance of the facility had to be retained during the renovation. This is expressed, among other things, in the orange-colored tiles with a 1970s look, which can still be seen behind the bar in the completely renovated and expanded organization center. In the athletes’ center on the other side of the almost 400-metre-long course, the changing rooms and the athletes’ area have also been renovated, but have retained the look of the “cheerful games” of the past, as Augsburg sports officer Jürgen Enninger puts it.
Nevertheless, the latest state of the art has moved in. There is now a floodlight system so that the athletes can also train in the evening, new competition technology, modern fiber optic cables for fast internet and new loudspeakers. A large scoreboard in the finish area will show the competition stands. The old concrete obstacles in the bed of the ice track from the 1970s have been repaired and freed of moss and algae. The route has remained unchanged. “You don’t change the Streif in Kitzbühel,” say the athletes. According to Johannes Heiss, project manager of the renovation, the top German canoeists who have already been able to train on the route are extremely satisfied: the course feels new – the route has become faster.
Thousands of spectators lined the man-made wild water canal in Augsburg at the 1972 Olympic Games. At that time, the canoe competitions had been outsourced from Munich to the Swabian metropolis.
(Photo: picture-alliance/ dpa)
The renovation of the route, the outdoor facilities and the buildings cost a little more than 20 million euros, so the project remained within the previously set financial framework. “That’s a rarity these days,” says sports consultant Enninger, who is not the only one who speaks of “Bavaria’s most beautiful construction site”. The state of Bavaria contributed seven million euros, and the federal government also took part, with the city of Augsburg covering around half of the costs.
After the 1972 Summer Olympics, World Championships were held in Augsburg in 1985 and 2003. With the Canoe World Championships from July 26th to 31st, the city and the German Canoe Association want to show that Olympic sports facilities can also be used sustainably without having to tear them down and rebuild them. And without sinking into insignificance like many other international sports venues. 380 athletes from a total of 70 nations come to the Swabian metropolis in the summer. The city has already sold significantly more tickets than planned for the major sporting event.
The head of the canoe association, Perlwitz, is already looking forward to the fact that top-class sport with these training opportunities in Augsburg will continue to generate youngsters in the future. At the opening, Mayor Weber pointed out that the facility is also available for popular sports and local recreation. It is unusual that a canoe route like the Augsburger Eiskanal is located in the middle of a big city: the people of Augsburg like to go for walks here in the vicinity of the zoo, botanical garden and the Siebentischwald.