Stellenbosch is a popular destination for sportsmen and sportswomen from European countries. 

Middle distance runner Carsten Schlangen is one of them. The German three-time champion of the 1 500 metre came to Stellenbosch for two weeks with his team, Hauptstadtlaufer, to train for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. "The training conditions are absolutely perfect here. I have never seen such a good combination of training facilities," the 27-year old Schlangen from Berlin said. He was delighted with the size of Coetzenburg's sports grounds. "It takes almost 20 to 25 minutes to run around all of them. It is a very low-impact terrain for running since the grass is cushioning the impact." The team also trained on the tartan track of the Coetzenburg stadium, and during some morning sessions they went to Jon-kershoek to run a 10 kilometre track. "To be honest, it seems quite crazy to fly about 10 000 kilometres just to find perfect training conditions," said Schlangen, who has interrupted his architecture studies to fully concentrate on his Sport. (mehr…)