Ibirapuera athletics track is destroyed – 02/14/2024 – Sport

One of the main stages in the history of Brazilian athletics, the track at the Ícaro de Castro Mello Stadium, in Ibirapuera, São Paulo, has been destroyed in recent days to hold a motorsport race there.

On the 9th and 10th of March, the first stage of Ultimate Drift is scheduled, a car race in which drivers guide the cars so that they slide with the rear part in curves.

The company responsible for holding the event is destroying the stadium’s athletics track to make it ready for the event at the beginning of next month. Ultimate Drift itself published a video on its social networks with images of the Ibirapuera track being removed.

The publication received a series of criticisms from people opposed to the event at the location, and responded. “The floor was destroyed and had been making athletics impossible for years. Ultimate Drift is paying for all the removal of the damaged floor and regularization of the floor below, which we believe will immediately make it possible to resume recreational athletics and advances part of the restoration process,” the company wrote in response to a comment that called the action “absurd.”

Wanted by Sheetthe company did not return requests for comment until the article was published.

Management Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos-SP) says that the renovation at the site was necessary due to the deterioration of the track, and that the ongoing destruction by Ultimate Drift was a mandatory step in the process, which is being carried out at no cost to the coffers. public.

The Sports Secretariat, through the press office, informed that meetings between the event organizers and the athletics community are scheduled to be held this Wednesday afternoon (14) in search of an understanding between the parties.

It will be an attempt to appease the anger of the athletics community.

CBAt (Brazilian Athletics Confederation) released a statement saying it was concerned about the works and the use of the space for a car race.

“CBAt comes out publicly to inform its immense indignation at seeing the temple of São Paulo athletics, which hosted very important international competitions, deteriorated, and, perhaps, destroyed,” said the confederation.

According to the president of CBAt, Wlamir Motta Campos, when contacting the São Paulo State Department of Sports, he was informed that the work in progress will facilitate a future renovation of the site.

“I confess that we have a huge concern about the structure, and, mainly, the history. When we change the function of the track, this ends up distancing the purpose”, said Campos.

Olympic champion in the 800 meters at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Joaquim Cruz also expressed his annoyance regarding the destruction of the track. “The base of the Ibirapuera athletics track was not built to support car racing events and will have a higher cost for its restoration,” wrote Cruz.

“We regret to see yet another temple of Brazilian athletics being transformed for other purposes, without considering its historical and strategic importance for the development of the sport”, the CBAt Athletes’ Commission also said in a statement.

Opened in 1974, the stadium was named in honor of the architect responsible for the design of the Ibirapuera gymnasium and other sports, such as the Brinco de Ouro da Princesa stadium, in Campinas, and the Mané Garrincha stadium, in Brasília.

Born in São Vicente, on the coast of São Paulo, Ícaro de Castro Mello (1913-1986) became South American champion in the high jump and pole vault and participated in the 1936 Games in Berlin. The stadium that bears his name has capacity for around 13,000 people in the stands and has hosted Brazilian football championship matches and concerts by artists such as Elton John and Black Sabbath.

Since then, it had mainly served as a training center for professional athletes, but had been unused since the closure caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in mid-2020.