January 24, 2010: The centenary celebration ground by the riverside below Yangchenphug school will be converted into a world standard track and field sports ground. The work is in progress.

The ground will have a 400 meter synthetic track, a first of its kind in the country. This new infrastructure is going to boost athletic sport, say Bhutan Olympic Federation (BOC) officials, and take Bhutanese sports a step further at meeting international standards.

“For the Bhutanese, this synthetic track is a sports arena, measuring about 400 meters long, the field is internationally accepted and of international standard,” said Dorji Tenzin, general secretary of Bhutan Amateur Athletic Federation (BAAF).

Bhutan Amateur Athletic Federation is constructing the track and field facility. The work started since September last year. To start the project BAAF had to depend on external donors for fund and assistance.

International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has donated about US$ 160,000 and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) donated US$ 100,000. In total an amount of US$ 260,000 has been directly paid by these two donors to the international rubber company Mondo.

Mondo is an international manufacturing company that produces synthetic tracks facilities with its supplies reaching across the world. Mondo was also the company that helped the Chinese government lay down the track facilities in Beijing National Stadium known as the Bird’s Nest during the 2008 Olympics.

Mondo will send their technicians to help the Bhutanese engineers in designing the final drawings of the construction and then to supervise it, as it is the first time that Bhutan is taking up such a mega project in sports.

“The money that has been send directly to the Mondo is the total cost of the rubber material and the shipment charge from Italy to Kolkata.  For transporting the rubber tracks from Kolkata to Bhutan, the BAAF will take the responsibilities,” said a BAAF official. 

The construction of the sub base which is required before laying the synthetic tracks, cost around Nu 6.3 million.  The Bhutan Olympic Committee, represented by prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck is supporting the construction.

The sub base will be completed at the end of this month and for the rubber base, the Mondo Company will send engineers to lay down the materials and to do the markings. 

“Once we have these facilities in place, then we can proudly give this to all the youth of the capital plus youth from other dzongkhags,” said Dorji Tenzin.

To host any athletic competitions, eight lanes of synthetic tracks are required. However, the track being constructed in the capital will have just six lanes because of space crunch. But these six-lane tracks are accepted internationally therefore, BAAF officials feel the facility can hold regional competitions, too.

“The main reason why some of our talented youth could not shine in athletic field is because we couldn’t provide them with international facilities and now with this new athletic field built in time, we assure that our youth will do better in sports, ” said Dorji Tenzin.

Some of the different sports that the youth will get to showcase their talents at the new ground will be high jump, 100 meters huddle, hammer throws, and 3,000 meters steeple throws and many others.

   The only problem so far has been the Wangchhu River. During the summer, the soaring water level could pose a threat to the field. Embankments are being constructed and this is expected to solve the problem.