Sarajevo Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track
The Track
Sarajevo Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track is an abandoned track situated on Trebevic mountain overlooking the City of Sarajevo, built for the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Presently, you would hardly find bobsleigh track, maybe even sports venue with sadder historic background and current state than this track in Sarajevo.
After construction for astronomical bill and those
two weeks of fame in 1984,
it served for only 7 seasons till 1991, when everything was tragically destroyed in
Yugoslav wars.
Physical statistics
The bobsleigh track is 1300 metres long with 13 turns (not named), vertical drop of 125.9 metres (average grade 10.2%).
Men's singles luge track lenght is 1210 metres, while track for women's luge singles (and men's doubles) 993 metres.
History, Presence and Future
When Sarajevo was awarded the 1984 Winter Olympics in 1977, a bobsleigh and luge track was proposed.
The track design was approved in 1981, with construction starting on 1 June of that year.
Construction was completed on 30 September 1982 at a cost YUD 563,209,000.
The 1984 games had 20,000 luge spectators and 30,000 bobsleigh spectators.
After the Winter Olympics, the track was used for World Cup competitions until the start of the Yugoslav wars in 1991 that would include the
Siege of Sarajevo the following year.
The track was damaged as a result of the siege which occurred during the Bosnian War.
During the siege, the track was used as an artillery position by Bosnian Serb forces.
Today, the tracks still remain mostly intact with war wounds of defensive fighting holes, drilled into one of the last turns of the course.
The tracks today are mainly used for graffiti and bicycling.
There is an intention to renovate the track for the
2017 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.
Thus it is not certain whether plans will turn into reality, considering significant renovation cost required and current low-point popularity of this sport among masses.
sources: en.wikipedia.org, guff.com, own visit and photos