Opening Ceremony Special Olympics Berlin With Alcons

The Special Olympics National Games took place in Berlin from June 19 to 24, 2022, when 4,000 athletes competed in 20 sport disciplines. As in all the Olympics, being a part of it is what counts. The sports and social event is organized by Special Olympics Germany (SOD), the German branch of the sports movement for people with intellectual and multiple disabilities which is officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

However, the National Games go far beyond a mere sporting competition. They also contribute to more recognition and social participation of people with intellectual disabilities.

Lichtwerk and Alcons

Lichtwerk Veranstaltungstechnik GmbH from Berlin, a member of Alcons’ The Ribbon Network, was commissioned with the sound reinforcement for the opening ceremony. With the support of Lichtwerk and Alcons, the event kicked off spectacularly.

After the official opening of the Special Olympics National Games by Berlin’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Iris Spranger, the band “Mendecino” opened with their song “Hey, what’s up”, making the atmosphere in the stadium heat up for the first time.

For the sound reinforcement in the Stadion an der alten Försterei – home turf to Bundesliga soccer team 1. FC Union Berlin – the Lichtwerk team used a setup of Alcons pro-ribbon systems.

The main PA was comprised of 12x Alcons LR18 double 8” compact 3-way line array systems, fuzing highest sound quality with very high SPL and long throw. 9x LR14 (double 8,6”) left / right served as outfills. A total of 18 LR7 6,5” micro line array systems, in combination with four of Alcons’ versatile VR8 8” loudspeakers, were used to cover the near field. The system was driven by ten Alcons Sentinel10 and two Sentinel3 Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers.

“The Alcons system coped well with this very unusual setup and, thanks to the pro ribbons, still managed to convey full speech intelligibility even at 90 meters distance in the galleries,”said Project manager Markus Engelbergs, Lichtwerk

“For the Special Olympics in Berlin, our audio focus was on delivering the best possible speech intelligibility. Nevertheless, the system also had to be able to handle live music and music interludes very well,” says Götz Berge, Managing Director of Lichtwerk Veranstaltungstechnik. “As usual, the Alcons systems did a great job here.”

Challenging volume limitation

Project manager Markus Engelbergs from Lichtwerk adds: “The positioning of the stages – in particular the main stage as center stage being in front of the main PA, sightlines that had to be kept clear and the volume limitation challenged us a lot. In addition, delays were not applied in order to avoid visual obstructions to the three stages as well as to keep maximum space for seating.“

He continues: “The Alcons system coped well with this very unusual setup and, thanks to the pro-ribbons, still managed to convey full speech intelligibility even at 90 meters distance in the galleries. The Alcons systems not only provide crystal-clear sound, but also carry it a long way. They are a real weapon for all events with a focus on speech intelligibility, as well as for classical and pop concerts, where they deliver hi-fi sound in X-Large.”

In addition to project manager Markus Engelbergs, René Hartmann as system engineer and Andreas Küttner (FoH) were handling the project on site.

For more information: www.lichtwerk.com

Related Alcons products:

• LR18
• LR14
• LR7
• VR8
• Sentinel3
• Sentinel10

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