Featured image credit: Ministerio del Deporte
The Parque Estadio Nacional, which served as a venue hub during Santiago’s hosting of the Pan American Games and Parapan American Games last year, reopened at the weekend as a legacy venue with a wide range of public sports facilities.
During the Games, Parque Estadio Nacional housed four facilities: the Centro de Deportes de Contacto (staging judo, wrestling, karate and taekwondo competitions), Centro Paralímpico (handball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, badminton, powerlifting, boccia, table tennis, goalball, judo, and seven-a-side and five-a-side football), Centro Acuático (swimming, artistic swimming, water polo and diving) and Centro de Tenis y Raquetas.
On Sunday, nearly 40,000 people attended the public opening of the 64-hectare complex, with a series of sports activities and music performances organised to mark the occasion.
The site features 23,000 square metres of cycle paths, pedestrian paths, multi-sport courts, three synthetic football fields, four sets of dressing rooms, six security control booths, and more than 1,100 new lighting fixtures.
Jaime Pizarro, Chile’s Minister of Sports, said: “This opening of the Parque Estadio Nacional for everyone is very symbolic. Today, before nine in the morning, there were already people waiting to enter to enjoy these common areas, these green spaces, the cycle paths, the area for walking, for having fun, for sharing with family with many children. And that makes us very happy.”
The Chilean capital hosted the Pan American Games from October 20 to November 5, with the Parapan Games following from November 17-26. Santiago was confirmed as host of the Games back in November 2017.
Following the conclusion of the Games, the facilities were used for sporting events and community workshops. They are now fully open to the public on weekends but will continue to be operated by the National Institute of Sport during the week for competitions and training.
The Parque Estadio Nacional is located in the Ñuñoa area of Santiago, next to the city’s Estadio Nacional venue. The Estadio Nacional serves as the home of Chile’s national football team and has a capacity of over 48,000.
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