L'anneau de vitesse, Olympic speed skating stadium in Albertville, France
L'anneau de vitesse is an outdoor oval in Albertville whose 400 m track, 12 m wide, encircles a grass infield now used for athletics and football. A 180 m metal grandstand shaped like an aircraft wing, weighing 300 tonnes, runs alongside; grassed embankments border the track. White goal frames stand on the infield and a rolled cover lies at the track's edge.
The facility was constructed in 1991 to host speed skating events during the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. This project represented a significant investment in winter sports infrastructure for the Alpine region.
The site is now the Stade Olympique Henri-Dujol, named after a local figure, and its 180-metre stand is the surviving element of the 1992 oval. The stadium has hosted friendly football matches for clubs such as Olympique de Marseille and OGC Nice. The grass embankments along the track edge remain from the original design.
The site is now the Stade olympique Henri-Dujol, an open-air multi-sports ground with an athletics track and football pitch inside the former 400 m oval. The 180 m grandstand is kept, and grassed embankments line the track edge. Access is on foot through the Olympic park beside the Halle olympique; the grass field and goals are visible from the surrounding path.
The 180-metre stand is a 300-tonne steel structure shaped like an aircraft wing, its roof studied with computer-aided design; grassed embankments line the track edge. The 400-metre, 12-metre-wide outdoor oval, the last Olympic speed skating track built open-air, seated 10,000. The ice was cooled to between −5 and −8 °C by 70 km of piping laid in 1.20 m of sand, with 30 tonnes of brine.
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