Desso AirMaster Helps İmprove İnterior Air Quality At Kıa Speed Skating Academy

The KIA Speed Skating Academy in Inzell has space for 35 athletes housed in a converted hospital, and has incorporated Desso AirMaster® in corridors and bedrooms to provide the best-possible interior air quality.

The world-class training facility for elite athletes from around the world has opened in Germany, with carpeting specifically designed to clean indoor air, named by the World Health Organisation as one of the major hazards of the modern world.

The World Health Organisation has warned that it can be particularly hazardous to inhale particulate matter. Miniscule dust particles settle in the lungs, and the smallest particles can end up in the bloodstream – with potentially serious consequences.

The newly-opened facility, which is expected to become an international focus for the sport, will take in speed skaters from around the world and offer them the best-possible training and residential facilities, with everything designed to develop their full potential as athletes.

AirMaster® was launched last year and is already finding applications across multiple markets in, for example, hospitals, schools and offices. This is the first occasion it has been specified in an elite sports environment – and underlines how the issue of indoor air quality affects us all.

According to The United Nations Environment Programme: “The state of the environment can have significant impacts on sport. Sportsmen and women can be affected by environmental conditions such as air and water quality and exposure to harmful substances.”

Most environmental research into sport and indoor air quality has focused on sports arenas, particularly ice rinks and swimming pools. The KIA Speed Skating Academy is one of the first sports facilities to recognise that indoor air quality should be optimised across both its training and residential facilities.

Training at the new facility will be led by “king of the sprint” Jeremy Wotherspoon, a legend in speed skating, and current world record holder for the 500 metres. He will oversee training programmes at the 7,000-seat Max Aicher Arena, the first daylight-optimised ice rink in the world.

In addition to intensive training, the athletes will also learn essential lifestyle regimes, such as diet and nutrition, necessary to ensure optimum physical performance. Installing AirMaster® in the athletes’ accommodation was part of the Academy’s strategy of providing the very best overall environment.

Marnix Wieberdink, who runs the facility, said that: “It was a logical choice for us to select DESSO AirMaster®. We are teaching these speed skaters how to reach their maximum performance level and physical condition is essential. This carpet type gives a healthier environment with eight times lower fine dust concentration than hard flooring – helping to ensure that our skaters stay fit and healthy.”

The new carpet significantly reduces the amount of dust and particulate matter floating in the air. Independent tests have confirmed that AirMaster® is eight times more effective in capturing and retaining fine dust than hard flooring – and four times more effective than standard carpeting.

While the new carpeting will benefit every athlete who trains at the KIA Speed Skating Academy, it will be particularly welcomed by asthma sufferers – several of whom have successfully competed at Olympic level at speed skating.

There are an estimated 300 million asthma sufferers worldwide, with the most important risk factors being genetic predisposition and environmental exposure to inhaled substances and particles that may provoke allergic reactions or irritate the airways.

The World Health Organisation estimates that, in 2005 alone, some 250,000 people died from asthma worldwide. It remains the most common chronic disease in children, and its incidence is increasing.

Alexander Collot d’Escoury, Desso’s commercial director, said that: “The fact that experts such as Marnix Wieberdink are recognising the impact that indoor surroundings can have on our health is fantastic. We are pleased to be supporting the next generation of world class speed skaters during their development in Inzell.”

A 1986 screening programme reported by the US Olympic Committee found that 67 out of 597 American Olympic athletes for the Los Angeles 1984 summer Olympic Games suffered from forms of asthma. Those 67 asthmatic athletes won 41 medals during the Olympic Games.