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The ''Augsburg Eiskanal'' is an artificial whitewater river in Augsburg, Germany, constructed as the canoe slalom venue for the 1972 Summer Olympics in nearby Munich. The first artificial whitewater course of its kind, it introduced the sport of canoe slalom (using decked canoes and kayaks) to the Olympic Games. However, because of the expense of building artificial rivers and supplying them with water, canoe slalom was missing from the next four Summer Olympics. It returned with the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and has been featured in every Summer Olympics since then. The Eiskanal has thus served as the prototype for six Olympic whitewater venues, from 1992 through 2012, and for more than fifty training and competition facilities in eighteen countries (see list). Despite being the oldest, it is still one of the most widely used, hosting two World Championships and numerous World Cup races. It was a World Cup venue for all but four of the years 1990 through 2010, and it was so again in 2013 and 2014. The facility and its (website ) are jointly managed by two clubs with headquartets in the boat house, (Augsburger Kayak Club eV ) and (Canoe Schwaben Augsburg ).〔(【引用サイトリンク】 year = 2013 )〕 ==History== The Hochablass (High Drain) dam on the north-flowing Lech river south of Augsburg dates back to 1647. It was most recently rebuilt in 1911-1912. The dam diverts river water into the Hauptstadtbach (Capital Creek) which branches into the many canals of the Augsburg Lech district as it flows through the town. In Medieval times, the canals were used for drinking water, water wheel operation, and sewage disposal. In 1875, in order to collect drinking water from the upstream end of the system, a water collection and filtration plant was built straddling a new bypass branch of Capital Creek, near the dam. (In 2007 it was decommissioned and converted into a waterworks museum and a small hydro power station.) The original channel became known as the Eiskanal (ice channel), since it was used to deflect floating ice away from the waterworks facility, protecting its equipment. By the 1950s, the Eiskanal was already in use as a canoe slalom venue, but its slope was much less than that of the mountain streams commonly used in the sport.〔 When the 1972 Olympic Games were awarded to Munich, a plan was devised to create a much steeper artificial whitewater rapid by constructing a 300-meter-long channel connecting the Eiskanal section of Capital Creek directly back to the Lech river. The 1971 construction cost was 14.9 million Deutsche Marks, equivalent to $24.5 million US (2013).〔 For the 1972 Olympics, this new channel was only the bottom half of a 660-meter race course; the top half was in the old Eiskanal, starting above the boat house near the dam. Since the standard length of a canoe slalom course was later reduced to 250 to 300 meters, major races are now held entirely within the 1971 channel. Nonetheless, the entire sports complex goes by the name Eiskanal.〔(1 ) (2 ) (3 ) The term "Eiskanal" may also refer to a bobsled track made of ice.〕 To prepare for the 1972 Olympics, East Germany's team constructed a secret copy of the Eiskanal on the Zwickau Mulde river in the Cainsdorf district of Zwickau. The training there, on the world's only other artificial rapid, was so successful that East German paddlers won all four Olympic gold medals in canoe slalom, the only time that has ever happened. The ruins of the long-abandoned, overgrown canal can still be seen in satellite photographs at . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Augsburg Eiskanal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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