The following email came from someone who works for the Academy of Sport here in Dunedin.
[i]Hi there
I was in Christchurch yesterday supporting my staff, inspecting (what I could) of our premises at QEII stadium and putting support and contingency plans into place.
I must admit this is a lot worse that one would expect. The terror in peoples eyes and faces, is unbelievable. It quite literally looks like a war zone and I did not go anywhere near the CBD! Although having said that there are parts of the city that remain relatively normal with a lot of businesses still opening as usual!.
I can certainly tell you that the tracks (both main and new second track) and associated fields at QEII are absolutely ruined!! Not only are they now covered in silt, they are sunken, raised and look nothing like an international stadium that housed a World Championship less than 4 weeks ago.
Athletics will not be held at this stadium for a very long time. Each and every one of you will know someone associated with our sport in the Canterbury region. I would urge you to support our fellow athletes, coaches, officials and administrators to ensure that they make it through these very difficult times. Some will want to stay, others will want to leave, but whatever their preference if we can support them in anyway possible to ensure that they can continue to train and achieve their goals for at least the remainder of the season.
From an Academy perspective, we have offered to relocate the carded athletes and coaches to Dunedin, but this is just the tip of the iceberg in relation to the masses associated with our sport. We do not know when (if at all) we will get back into the Academy offices and training facilities and therefore do not know the future of the whole stadium. I can advise that whilst the stands are still standing, the whole facility has suffered severe structure damage with major cracks in tilt slabs and movement in the base plates. We can only wait and see what the professionals advise in this stadium.
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