Aqua Wing Arena is an indoor
aquatics
Aquatics may refer to:
*Aquatic sports in the Olympics and other international competitions, including the disciplines of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming
*Water-related sports more broadly (including boa ...
arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
in
Nagano, Japan Nagano may refer to:
Places
* Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan
** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture
*** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics
*** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano
*** Nagano Univer ...
. The arena is located in the ''Yoshida'' area of the city of Nagano, in , 5 km northeast of
Nagano Station. The closest station is
Asahi Station on the
Nagano Electric Railway, a distance of 1 km.
The Aqua Wing Arena was constructed as Venue B for the
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
events at the
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...
, and was the last venue to be completed for the Games, in September 1997.
Big Hat
is an indoor ice hockey arena in Nagano, Japan with a capacity of 10,104 seated spectators. Its official name is the ''Nagano Wakasato Tamokuteki Sports Arena''. The arena was completed and officially opened on December 10, 1995.
Location
Big ...
, the principal Venue A for the
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
competition at the 1998 Winter Olympics, is located approximately 5.3 km southwest of Aqua Wing Arena.
M-Wave
, or , is a covered speed skating oval in the city of Nagano, Japan. M-Wave, which opened in November, 1996, was constructed for the speed skating events at the 1998 Winter Olympics. It was Japan's first International Skating Union (ISU) stand ...
, the site of the
speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marath ...
events at the Games is located approximately 2.5 km south of Aqua Wing Arena.
The Aqua Wing Arena was designed to be converted into an
aquatics
Aquatics may refer to:
*Aquatic sports in the Olympics and other international competitions, including the disciplines of swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, and open water swimming
*Water-related sports more broadly (including boa ...
centre, and the retrofit was completed in 1999. The arena consists of a 50-meter pool, a 25-meter swimming pools, and a diving pool.
The roof is retractable. Although the arena sat 6,000 during the 1998 Winter Olympics, the civic pool currently seats 2,000 spectators. The Aqua Wing Arena will be an international pre-training camp for the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
.
Construction and equipment
The design of Aqua Wing Arena includes sharp flowing lines which represent the wind and water of the region.
Its name, Aqua Wing derives from its similarity to a wing.
Its
retractable roof
A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...
is supported by V-shaped pillars.
Aqua Wing Arena was built on public land in Nagano Sports Park, as such land costs for the venue were nil; however, construction costs for the arena totaled 9.1 billion yen.
The venue covers an area of approximately 5.2 ha.
The permanent facilities include a building area of approximately 10,100m
2, with total floor area of approximately 13,500m
2.
The building is made of
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
and
steel frames, with three stories above ground and one below rground.
The maximum height of the building is 31m.
In addition, 16 temporary structures covering 2,390m
2 and providing 4,690m
2 of floor space were built.
To build the ice for Aqua Wing Arena, a temporary rink was situated on top of the 50-meter pool and diving pool, with indirect ammonia refrigeration.
The ice hockey rink was built to
International Ice Hockey Federation
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 m ...
standards, 60m x 30m.
Sound dampening measurers were used because the ice hockey rink was built atop an empty space.
The 25-meter pool was used for the sub press center.
Aqua Wing Arena was the only venue at the 1998 Winter Olympics that did not stage international competitions before the Games.
In lieu of international competitions, several
Japan Ice Hockey League
The Japan Ice Hockey League (JIHL) (日本アイスホッケーリーグ) was an annual ice hockey league that began in 1966 and ended in 2004 when it was replaced by Asia League Ice Hockey. Only Japanese teams competed in the JIHL.
Baseball an ...
matches were held which permitted staff and volunteers to practice procedures.
Electricity for the Aqua Wing Arena during the games was generated by gas engines, and heat generated by the engines and freezing equipment was used as energy for the heating system.
This system resulted in capturing 80% of the heat generated by the engines and freezing equipment.
This system is used to heat the swimming pool.
Ice hockey at the Winter Olympics at Aqua Wing Arena
During the 1998 Winter Olympics, Aqua Wing Arena hosted a total of 15 games for the
women's tournament
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
and eight games for the
men's tournament at the Winter Olympics, including two quarterfinal matches. The arena hosted 113,412 spectators over 10 days.
Only
Big Hat
is an indoor ice hockey arena in Nagano, Japan with a capacity of 10,104 seated spectators. Its official name is the ''Nagano Wakasato Tamokuteki Sports Arena''. The arena was completed and officially opened on December 10, 1995.
Location
Big ...
(256,306),
Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium
Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium is a ski jumping hill in Hakuba, Japan. It hosted the ski jumping and the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined events at the 1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonl ...
(179,185), and
M-Wave
, or , is a covered speed skating oval in the city of Nagano, Japan. M-Wave, which opened in November, 1996, was constructed for the speed skating events at the 1998 Winter Olympics. It was Japan's first International Skating Union (ISU) stand ...
(118,555) hosted more spectators.
Women's tournament
1998 was the first year that women competed in Olympic hockey. (The Women's Tournament was won by .) Except for the bronze medal match and gold medal match which were held at
Big Hat
is an indoor ice hockey arena in Nagano, Japan with a capacity of 10,104 seated spectators. Its official name is the ''Nagano Wakasato Tamokuteki Sports Arena''. The arena was completed and officially opened on December 10, 1995.
Location
Big ...
, all games of the women's tournament were played at Aqua Wing Arena. The table below displays the matches held at the Aqua Wing Arena.
''All times are local (
UTC+9
UTC+09:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +09:00.
During the Japanese occupations of British Borneo, Burma, Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, and French Indochina, it was used as a common time with ...
).''
Men's tournament
1998 was the first year that professional athletes from the North American
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
competed in Olympic hockey. (The men's Tournament was won by .) Most games in the men's tournament were held at
Big Hat
is an indoor ice hockey arena in Nagano, Japan with a capacity of 10,104 seated spectators. Its official name is the ''Nagano Wakasato Tamokuteki Sports Arena''. The arena was completed and officially opened on December 10, 1995.
Location
Big ...
. The table below displays the matches held at the Aqua Wing Arena.
''All times are local (
UTC+9
UTC+09:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +09:00.
During the Japanese occupations of British Borneo, Burma, Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, and French Indochina, it was used as a common time with ...
).''
Public transportation
*
Asahi Station on the
Nagano Electric Railway is approximately 15 minutes away by foot
*
Kita-Nagano Station on the
Shinano Railway
The is a Japanese third-sector railway operating company established in 1996 to operate passenger railway services on the section of the JR East Shinetsu Main Line within Nagano Prefecture when it is separated from the JR East network in Octob ...
is approximately 15 minutes away by foot
*Bus No.7 leaves from
Nagano Station, passengers disembark at ''Undou kouen'' or ''Undou kouen higashi''
References
{{coord, 36, 39, 38, N, 138, 13, 59, E, type:landmark_region:JP, display=title
Sports venues completed in 1997
Indoor arenas in Japan
Indoor ice hockey venues in Japan
Venues of the 1998 Winter Olympics
Olympic ice hockey venues
Sports venues in Nagano Prefecture
1997 establishments in Japan
Sport in Nagano (city)
Swimming venues in Japan