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Speaker 1: Now, Athletics New Zealand says we've got a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a dilemma on our hands that we're going to

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Speaker 1: have to solve. If we want to host the twenty

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Speaker 1: thirty four Commonwealth Games, we need somewhere to put the

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Speaker 1: track and field, and apparently none of our existing venues

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Speaker 1: are up to snuff. Now, Cam Mitchell is in India,

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Speaker 1: he's the Athletics New Zealand Chief executive, High Camp. What's

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Speaker 1: wrong with our facilities?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 3: Look, the facilities, I guess are more based around sort

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Speaker 3: of community or domestic level athletics, so you know they're

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Speaker 3: adequate for that level of athletics. But if we are

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Speaker 3: looking to host international athletics and we're also looking to

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Speaker 3: grow our sport and create special moments like we had

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Speaker 3: on Saturday Night with track Stars, then I guess the

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Speaker 3: infrastructure needs they grow and so we've got to keep

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Speaker 3: up with the requirements we have as we grow as

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Speaker 3: a sport.

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Speaker 1: Are you talking about what is actually happening on the

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Speaker 1: field or is it what's going on in the stands,

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Speaker 1: like the ability to hold more people.

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Speaker 3: Look, it's a bit of both, I mean predominantly, I

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Speaker 3: guess it's the wrap around support within the venue, the

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Speaker 3: ability to run on backstraights, for example, and have the

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Speaker 3: right time to equipment the right screens. Those sorts of

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Speaker 3: things play a major role in performance, particularly for sprinters

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Speaker 3: that typically or definitely want to run with the tower

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Speaker 3: would not into a headwind. So setting infrastructure, you know,

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Speaker 3: all those sorts of things a positive fan experiences. You know,

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Speaker 3: in terms of the athletics requirements, I guess none of

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Speaker 3: our facilities are one hundred percent optimal. So there are

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Speaker 3: some minor adjustments we need to make it some of them,

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Speaker 3: but I guess it more sits around the fact that

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Speaker 3: if we are wanting to host major events with regards

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Speaker 3: to athletics.

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Speaker 2: That you know that at the moment there isn't anything

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Speaker 2: that's optimal.

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Speaker 1: So this is this doesn't sound like a complete build.

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Speaker 1: It sounds like a renovation or a tweak at an

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Speaker 1: existing venue. Is that right?

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Speaker 2: Yep? That could be one option.

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Speaker 3: But you know, ideally from our perspective, you know, having

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Speaker 3: a home of athletics that's that's able to sort of

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Speaker 3: cater for international quality events would be it would be

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Speaker 3: something we would love to have. So you know, Mount

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Speaker 3: Smart was ofviously the home of athletics, but was converted

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Speaker 3: to being a rugby league field once the Warriors sort

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Speaker 3: of kicked off in the mid nineties and then q

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Speaker 3: WE two obviously with the earthquakes, has been replaced with

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Speaker 3: Pernawin and christ Church which is a really good domestic

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Speaker 3: level facility, but isn't necessarily built for fans and broadcasts

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Speaker 3: and those sorts of things. So certainly the broadcast infrastructure

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Speaker 3: and lighting infrastructure required for broadcast. You know, really it's

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Speaker 3: only Trust Arena and we Stalkland that has anything that

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Speaker 3: would meet those requirements. So every venue has got its

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Speaker 3: own quirk and little challenges and nothing is quite optimal,

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Speaker 3: and I guess I guess that's.

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Speaker 2: Something that we are keen to sort of work. You know,

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Speaker 2: there is this.

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Speaker 3: National Sports Facility strategy being developed by the government, so

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Speaker 3: we're sort of feeding into that and making sure that

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Speaker 3: we're around the table and that athletics it is probably

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Speaker 3: viewed in a different light to what it has been

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Speaker 3: in recent times. You know, we're a sport that's on

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Speaker 3: the move, We're starting to attract larger audiences. We've now

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Speaker 3: got a TV product in place, so I think they're

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Speaker 3: really good conversations for us to be having as we

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Speaker 3: try and reset the sport facilities do create great experiences

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Speaker 3: for fans and also I guess the athletes themselves obviously.

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Speaker 1: I mean, how do you write your chances that you're

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Speaker 1: going to get anything, particularly flash, because I thought half

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Speaker 1: the pitch for the twenty thirty four com Games is

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Speaker 1: that we wouldn't have to pay anything. We basically had

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Speaker 1: the facilities ready to go. So it feels to me

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Speaker 1: like you're probably you're probably out of luck on that.

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Speaker 1: What do you think?

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Speaker 3: Oh, look, I think we'll see what comes out of

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Speaker 3: the National Sports Facility strategy and you know, and just

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Speaker 3: reflect on that.

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Speaker 2: But you know, what do you expect from available to

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Speaker 2: build something new? Then clearly we'd be looking at how

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Speaker 2: we can work to enhance what we've got and make

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Speaker 2: it as good as we can.

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Speaker 1: What are you expecting out of that strategy?

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Speaker 3: Look, I guess a home of athletics would be great

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Speaker 3: for us. There's there's no short track in New Zealand,

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Speaker 3: so short track or indoor athletics.

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Speaker 2: Tracks which are two hundred meters.

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Speaker 3: Australasia doesn't have a short track, so that also creates

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Speaker 3: new event opportunities for this part of the world that

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Speaker 3: we haven't been able to look at before. So you know,

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Speaker 3: having facilities like that are advantageous. Yeah, so I guess,

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Speaker 3: you know, in terms of that facility strategy itself, we're

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Speaker 3: not quite sure what that will produce, you, but we've

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Speaker 3: certainly had really positive dialogue through the process.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and wait and see. I mean, the reality is

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Speaker 2: for the country.

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Speaker 3: If they want to host the Commonwealth Games, and then

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Speaker 3: there's going to have to find a solution, whether that

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Speaker 3: be temporary or permanent for athletics, because I think most,

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Speaker 3: if not all of the other sports actually have facilities

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Speaker 3: that are adequate at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Athletics is probably the only one where that isn't the case.

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Speaker 2: Hey did you watch the cricket I did, Yes, Yes,

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Speaker 2: I'm obviously in India.

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Speaker 3: Flew out on Saturday night, straight straight after the athletics,

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Speaker 3: so I watched it in a bar in the hotel

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Speaker 3: with a whole lot of Indians that were very happy.

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Speaker 3: I was very gracious and defeat as I'm over here

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Speaker 3: trying to strengthen our ties with Indio athletics and we're

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Speaker 3: sort of just trying to firm up our partnership with

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Speaker 3: them all.

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Speaker 1: Good like Hey, thank you very much for talking to

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Speaker 1: us out of India. Canna's Can Mitchell Athletics, New Zealand

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Speaker 1: Chief Executive. More from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive.

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