Manila, Philippines, December 3, 2019: The just-completed sports facilities in New Clark City have quickly made a mark in the global athletics scene, with foreign teams eyeing the venue as a training ground for the Olympic Games in Tokyo next summer, reports CNN Philippines. Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and Chief Executive Officer Vivencio Dizon said there had been strong interest from overseas teams to fly to the Philippines and train in the new sports complex in Capas, Tarlac, which is currently the venue for track and field and water sports for the 30th Southeast Asian Games. "Right now, we have already been getting feelers from countries who want to train in the New Clark City in preparation for Tokyo 2020 because they have to acclimatise, they have to practise in the heat and they have to get used to the time zone. They're already approaching us," Dizon said in a media briefing. Those interested are teams from Central and Eastern Europe, he said. The BCDA chief said there's also buzz to hold the Asian Swimming Championships here. The aquatic centre features an eight-lane training pool and a 10-lane Olympic pool for swimming competitions, as well as a diving pool. Nearby is the open-air athletics stadium with a capacity of 20,000. Across the road there's the Athletes' Village that can accommodate hundreds of participants and comes with its own wade pool, basketball court, gym and cafeteria. Even without foreign teams coming, Dizon said the facilities were meant for the use of the Philippine national team as well as for students and employees of the institutions that plan to set up shop there. New Clark City is located 30km from Clark Freeport Zone and around 130km north of Manila in rural Pampanga province.
European track teams consider New Clark City for Tokyo 2020 training camp
