Equipment is required for every sporting discipline – sometimes it can be folded up as small as a swimming cap, sometimes it might need a trailer (like a yacht). In any case, it is important that sporting equipment is well looked after, properly maintained, complete and undamaged – not to mention actually available where you intend to use it. This is essential for amateurs and professionals alike, whether at a school sports day or the Olympic Games.
Two companies from Austria operating in this field are ensuring bikes are in tip-top condition and boats are ready to cast off.
The WINTERSTEIGER Group has acquired a global reputation for the machinery and equipment it supplies to the timber and metal industry and the seed cultivation it undertakes in agriculture, but the Austrian firm is also active in the sports sector, where it is involved in maintaining, servicing and cleaning skis, snowboards und bicycles, as well as drying sports kit.
The 2024 Olympic Games are also a good place to find out exactly how a WINTERSTEIGER Sports bicycle washing station works: there is a Veloclean Pro station installed at Intersport in Chamonix, for example, where every bike is gently and effectively brought to a shine using low-pressure, hot water. The fully automated Velobrush system available at Sport 2000 Gaby Sports in Métabief can clean up to 400 cycles a week with its rotating brushes and targeted high-pressure water jets.
Both systems also score highly for their spotless results and their environmental impact, using as little water as possible, along with integrated oil traps and water filters when draining waste into the local sewer system.
So how do you get a bicycle where it needs to go? If push comes to shove, you can just get on and start pedalling. But what about canoes or kayaks?
Sunkid GmbH may just have the solution. It all started almost 30 years ago, and the Austrian firm has since invented the “Moving Carpet” conveyor belt system as an alternative to ski lifts for ski school pupils aged 3 and older. It is now capable of moving people, goods, boats and the like, and can be used to climb mountains and cross cities all over the world throughout the year.
Cesson-Sévigné in France is just one such example; the “Base Sports Nature” training centre for canoeing and rafting was comprehensively refurbished in 2023 and its new white water run is 120 metres long with a drop of 3.5 metres. Modern pumps ensure water-flow of up to 12 m³/s, which meets International Canoe Federation (ICF) standards.
Sunkid has installed a suitable boat conveyance solution. The companies are experts in the field and were chosen to equip the Olympic whitewater stadium in Tokyo, for example. There are international professionals who train in Cesson-Sévigné as well, and they and their boats are retrieved from the end of the run and returned to the start line safely and comfortable. There is even space for large rafts on the 2 meter-wide conveyor belt. A nice touch is that the next generation of professional and amateur athletes are also able to enjoy the comfort of the Moving Carpet.
