Runners have deemed a local running track in Tonghe County, Heilongjiang unusable after the traditional rounded corners were eschewed for right-angled ones.
Completed as part of a recent refurbishment, the stadium is also home to an immaculate artificial grass pitch.
Unimpressed locals have described it as “strange,” “inconvenient” and “not really up to standard,” abandoning their attempts to run on the track because it is too easy to fall when running around the sharp corners.
Some questioned whether it was designed to prevent runners from crashing into each other, asking stadium officials “is it anti-collision?”
Sadly, sports officials who authorized the track revealed that the only reason for the radical shape-shift was a last-minute visit from senior Communist Party leaders that prompted them to cut corners (zing) in order to get the track ready in time.
Rectangular corners were chosen because “painting right angles is faster than painting curves” and it needed to be ready for the incoming VIPs.
Despite the fact that the failed attempt to impress the leaders has resulted in the stadium becoming a laughing stock and prompting professional athletes such as head of Heilingjiang’s Track and Field Sports Administration Li Yuxue to say it could cause injury and stop runners from achieving good results, the officials reasoned that “if the leaders don’t ask us to change it, what are we supposed to do?”
With such precise 90-degree angles and flat surfaces, however, the obvious way for local leaders to deflect blame would be to point the finger at ancient aliens.
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