Olympics in GB

seamusgi4szw

Dear All,

As you are probably aware the proposed venue for the shooting events at the
2012 Olympic Games is Woolwich Barracks.

This is not a suitable venue and despite the best efforts of GB's shooting
governing bodies the 'powers that be' are not prepared to move it.

The idea is to construct it and knock it down after the Games at vast
expense. This will leave shooting in this country with no lasting legacy
unlike the majority of other Olympic sports.

An E petition to move the venue has been uploaded onto the 10 Downing St
website and I would ask that you sign up to support the attempt to move it.
Can you please send this onto people in your address book to maximise the
number of signatories.

Please use the link here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OlympicShooting/
<http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OlympicShooting/&gt;

Kind regards,
Seamus

rrpc

Slight problem here Seamus:

You must be a British citizen or resident to sign the petition.

I strongly support the petition, but unfortunately not being a British citizen my signature will have no effect.

Does anybody know what will happen to the equipment after the games? I'm talking about the electronic targets and other ancillary stuff that will not be affected by the removal of the temporary ranges.

As an aside, the probable reason for the current proposed venue is because of the pistol events. The logistics of transporting the pistols from the armoury to the venue would make things very difficult and so the decision was made to bring the events to the armoury.

During the Commonwealth games, the whole process was completely ludicrous, including the division of the shooters from the spectators by means of plexiglass screens (to prevent a competitor from tossing his/her pistol into the crowd for them to run amok with - I kid you not!) This being the case even with the 50m pistol event (single-shot pistols!).

IRLConor

I think the shooting events were originally going to be on in Bisley but the IOC were miffed that too many events were outside London so they moved it. Not sure where I heard that though, so take with a pinch of salt.

I don't think it's an armoury issue, Bisley would be more than capable of being the armoury for the games.

If they have spare Sius-Ascor systems after the games I know plenty of clubs who'd be more than happy to take them off their hands.

rrpc

IRLConor wrote: »

I think the shooting events were originally going to be on in Bisley but the IOC were miffed that too many events were outside London so they moved it. Not sure where I heard that though, so take with a pinch of salt.

I don't think it's an armoury issue, Bisley would be more than capable of being the armoury for the games.

AFAIK during the commonwealth games the pistols were shipped in from outside Bisley by the army and were under the constant supervision of a police officer while on the range.

By all accounts it was a tremendously tortuous process.

Sparks

They can't run the events in Bisley without massive expenditure; the floor for the 10m air rifle hall in the lord roberts centre wasn't built to a proper standard, so it bounces up and down excessively. It would never be accepted for an ISSF world cup for that reason (and becuase it's not large enough), let alone an Olympic Games. In effect, they'd have to rebuild the entire LRC and as it stands, it doesn't make enough money to pay for itself.

Believe it or not, if they do it right, dismantling the range at the end of the Games might be a great boon for target shooting in the UK - if they distributed the electronic targets and other kit and the necessary control gear, it might raise the standards of dozens of local ranges throughout the UK.

rrpc

Sparks wrote: »

They can't run the events in Bisley without massive expenditure; the floor for the 10m air rifle hall in the lord roberts centre wasn't built to a proper standard, so it bounces up and down excessively. It would never be accepted for an ISSF world cup for that reason (and becuase it's not large enough), let alone an Olympic Games. In effect, they'd have to rebuild the entire LRC and as it stands, it doesn't make enough money to pay for itself.

They held the airgun events at the World Cup in Bangkok in a tent! It's not a massive feat of engineering to fix the floor in the LRC so that it doesn't bounce, certainly could be done a lot cheaper than creating and demolishing a complete set of ranges, considering they won't have to provide the targets if it's in Bisley. Sius Ascor targets are horrendously expensive, you're looking at close to €2 million for the whole 'shooting gallery' :D:D

Believe it or not, if they do it right, dismantling the range at the end of the Games might be a great boon for target shooting in the UK - if they distributed the electronic targets and other kit and the necessary control gear, it might raise the standards of dozens of local ranges throughout the UK.

I agree, which is why I asked what was happening with them. It's possible that they will be rented from Sius Ascor rather than being purchased, which of course means absolutely no legacy whatsoever. I'm inclined to believe that this will be the case since I've heard nothing concerning their fate after the games.

This would explain why there is so much wailing going on about the whole sorry mess. At least in Bisley, the upgrades necessary would be permanent.

Sparks

rrpc wrote: »

They held the airgun events at the World Cup in Bangkok in a tent! It's not a massive feat of engineering to fix the floor in the LRC so that it doesn't bounce

Not necessarily. Of course, it depends on how it was built in the first place and it might simply have proven to be more trouble than it was worth.

sidneyreilly

rrpc wrote: »

During the Commonwealth games, the whole process was completely ludicrous, including the division of the shooters from the spectators by means of plexiglass screens (to prevent a competitor from tossing his/her pistol into the crowd for them to run amok with - I kid you not!) This being the case even with the 50m pistol event (single-shot pistols!).

You are not joking??

rrpc

sidneyreilly wrote: »

You are not joking??

Nope. Absolutely true.

rrpc

Sparks wrote: »

Not necessarily. Of course, it depends on how it was built in the first place and it might simply have proven to be more trouble than it was worth.

A few strategically placed pillars under correctly positioned RSJ's on the ground floor would be one solution.

A properly stressed floor built on top of the old one would also be possible so long as the ceiling height wasn't impinged too much. If the walls weren't strong enough to hold this, it could be extended to new buttresses built to the outside of the existing walls.

There are any number of solutions that could be used to address the problem including ripping out the entire floor and replacing it. The others are cheaper, but I certainly don't see how building and demolishing a competely new range could be cheaper.