Beijing (dpa) – The unusual lighting conditions at the Paralympics in Beijing are of particular concern to the visually impaired athletes before the competitions begin on Saturday.
“It’s very bright. I can’t deal with it at all,” said biathlete Nico Messinger, who has two percent vision, after training: “I’m very sensitive to light anyway, when the sun is shining and reflected in the snow. And I have the feeling that the glare here is even stronger than at other competition locations.”
That could be because “there are no trees here in the stadium that can filter light,” said the 27-year-old from Freiburg: “I’ve also spoken to other, non-visually impaired athletes, who also say that it’s very is glaring.”
In the meantime, there was praise, with a little sarcasm, from national alpine coach Justus Wolf for the conditions around the race track. “As expected,” they were great, said Wolf: “If you don’t have any limits on nature conservation and budget, then something like that works, even if you have to ask yourself in terms of sustainability: is it necessary?”