Repairs for Sydney's Canterbury Velodrome

Sydney, Australia's Canterbury Velodrome is to undergo repairs ahead of the second edition of the reborn Sydney Thousand track meet on October 29. The concrete outdoor track was built in 1982 and has hosted national championships and Olympic trials, but since the construction of the wooden, indoor Dunc Gray Velodrome for the 2000 Olympic Games has been somewhat neglected.

Last Wednesday, Canterbury Council engineer Bob Bullivant, parks coordinator John Dodd and president of the UCI track cycling commission Ray Godkin inspected the track and discussed the necessary repairs to return the track to world standard.

Work began on the southern bend last Friday. The planned work will include cleaning the black-stained track surface. As well as improving the track for the Sydney Thousand, the work will benefit the many local clubs that use the facility for summer track racing and training.

Moving the Sydney Thousand to Canterbury Velodrome will allow promoter John Scott to expand the program. Australian track carnivals such as the Tasmanian series over Christmas and New Year traditionally include running events and the 2006 Sydney Thousand will host an 80m 'Gift' sprint event for runners and a 300 metre circuit race as well as the cycling events.