MANILA, Philippines – MTD Philippines president Nikko David said it completed the New Clark City athletics stadium in “record time”  but still made sure that its quality was internationally certified to host big sports events including the Olympics. 

“The facility has been built for 18 months, but it usually takes 3 years. E-Sports International has done it in half the time with the quality required, so it was tested by a certified international body,” said David on Tuesday, November 19, at the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association forum. 

“It was done in record time but (still had) the quality required to host the Olympics.” 

MTD Philippines, the developer of New Clark City, together with E-sports International, a Filipino sports architecture and wellness solutions firm, completed the athletics stadium in time for the country’s hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. 

According to David, the Philippine athletics team has been training in the IAAF Class 1 stadium and living in the Athletes’ Village since August 31.  The stadium equipped with a gym that boasts of Skill Line Technogym equipment designed for athletic training. 

The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association also hosted the SEA Games athletics test event last October 26 to 28. 

David proposed plans of renting the stadium to local teams and even other countries for their Tokyo 2020 Olympics training and events purposes that will prevent the “white elephant” phase of facilities. 

“We can invite [other countries and teams] joining the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, not only the winter countries, but also from Europe, Asia and America. They can train here before jumping to Tokyo. They can train here first because we have the summer weather like Tokyo,” added David. 

The warmup track in stadium will feature SmarTracks, a tracking technology that documents the speed, stride length, jumps and agility of the athletes in real time.

Magnetic nodes would be installed around the track that would respond to the SmarTracks belt worn by the athlete. The sensors would pick up the motion of the athlete and SmarTracks would gather and analyze the athletes’ data.

The 2019 SEA Games will officially open on November 30 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan and will run until December 11. – Rappler.com