Peter Maniaty
The unsettled future of Sydney’s 2000 Olympic Velodrome at Bass Hill has claimed an unfortunate scalp with news the NSW Institute of Sport, NSWIS, is set to drop its high performance track cycling program from early 2025.
A critical training resource for elite and emerging track athletes based in NSW, the NSWIS track program relies heavily on access to Dunc Gray, the lone indoor velodrome in Australia’s most populous state. As sources have explained to Bicycling Australia, current NSWIS riders and coaches were informed late last week that given increasing uncertainty around the 25-year-old velodrome, NSWIS will no longer be able to run the elite program from the venue, hence the decision which will take effect at the end of March 2025 and has reportedly left those affected “devastated.”
Bicycling Australia has received the following statement from NSWIS: “The New South Wales Institute of Sport will continue to support cycling, but the Institute will run a revamped program from April 2025. The NSWIS track cycling program can no longer be supported after that date due to concerns over the future of the Dunc Gray velodrome—a situation that is out of the Institute’s control. NSWIS is working with AusCycling to continue an NSWIS Cycling program which focuses on road riding and mountain biking disciplines. The Institute will also maintain support for BMX athletes through the NSWIS Individual Athlete’s Program (IAP), of which Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold medallist Saya Sakakibara is a NSWIS Scholarship holder. All Podium, Podium Ready and Podium Potential category level athletes can apply for IAP scholarships.”
Whilst hugely disappointing, the news is unlikely to come as a major surprise for most within the Sydney track cycling community, and certainly anyone who’s competed at Bass Hill in recent years.
Athletes, officials and promoters have long bemoaned the state of the track and adjacent facilities at Dunc Gray, warning of the increasingly urgent need for repairs, upgrades or even relocation of the Baltic pine track that officially opened in 1999 after being built at a cost of $42 million.
Law makers and sports administrators have also been aware of the need for action for some time, however issues around funding and ongoing responsibility for the venue have generally seen only stop-gap measures implemented, with few long-term solutions progressing beyond preliminary talks.
This climate of uncertainty has seen Dunc Gray velodrome in the news on a regular basis over the past decade, with all three levels of Government debating what to do with the ageing community asset, including the option of complete demolition. “Unfortunately, track cycling is a very small sport that requires a very large investment in the venue that you use for it,” the acting Canterbury-Bankstown administrator, Richard Colley, told the Sydney Morning Herald back in 2016, highlighting the existential funding and infrastructure issues that, eight years on, continue to cast a long shadow over competitive cycling in many corners of Australia.
NSWIS was established by NSW Government in the lead-up to the Sydney 2000 Olympics. According to its website, it currently provides “world-class training environments for over 450 high performance athletes and coaches across 28 sports.”
Sadly, it’s likely to be a few less from next year…
I live in Wollongong and see WIN stadium hardly used but maintained.
Dunc Grey Veledrome is a great traing venue for elite cyclist . The wood surface needs some restoration but doable and a few leaks in the roof but fixable . Dont throw the babiex out with the bath water . Give them a life raft at least til out 28 Olympics !!!please
As hard as the explanations given are to accept it’s not as hard to accept as the realisation that the NSW government is giving over $10 million dollars to refurbish an Iceskating rink.
If only it had been built in the Olympic Park precinct as it was supposed to be in the first place but was replaced by the tennis venue,,it would have received ongoing funding from the state government for its upkeep.
The reality is it looks like realestate value trumps community need and health and fitness once again.
Where is the minister for sport I all of this? This is a disgrace!!!
Part of the issue with Dunc Gray Velodrome is it’s location. It draws cyclists from all over Sydney, and even Canberra and further afield, but there isn’t a strong connection to the local community and the transport to get there by public transport is abysmal. A location closer to the city and public transport hubs would have helped a bit.
All it needed from the start was a Good promoter.