Richmond Olympic Oval

The Richmond Olympic Oval, with its ground-breaking design and "wood wave" rippling roof, first opened in 2008, costing $178 million to construct. Located at 6111 River Road, near the Fraser River and a few blocks away from the Lansdowne Mall Canada Line stop, in Richmond BC. The Oval will be the site of all the 2010 Olympics speed skating events, and has already been the location of numerous speed skating events in 2009. This will not be its only function; the Oval will also be the sight of the official 2010 Olympic anti-doping lab, and will thus serve as a very important facility to maintain the Games' athletic integrity. As such it stands as a high profile building for the Games, a pivotal icon in the city of Richmond, and the undisputed central new addition to the previous group of Vancouver-Richmond sporting complexes, such as BC Place, the Pacific Coliseum, and GM Place.

The radical new architecture has been the source of much media admiration. Omega Life Magazine, for instance, named it the "sexiest" 2010 Olympic facility; http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/79564192.htmland according to the local Vancouver newspaper the Georgia Strait, the Oval showcases "flow, flight, and fusion."http://straight.com/article-275204/vancouver/ovals-art-showcases-flow-flight-and-fusion Even more impressively, the Institution of Structural Engineering awarded the Richmond Olympic Oval its top award in 2009 for Sports or Leisure Structures. Previous winners of the award include the Bird's Nest of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Watch for the Men's and Women's individual distance speed skating as well as the team pursuit to excite winter sport fans this year in Richmond, British Columbia.