Employees of the Mondo company work on the “Mondotrack EB”, which will be the athletics track for the Paris 2024 Games, on March 13, 2024 in Alba, Italy (AFP/MARCO BERTORELLO)
The Paris-2024 athletics track will be a unique purple, more “green” and will show all the colors to the spectators and viewers of the king of the sport of the Olympics, assures the Italian company Mondo which is putting the finishing touches to the covering which will be installed at the Stade de France next month.
The Frenchman Kevin Mayer, the Swede Armand Duplantis, the American Sha’Carri Richardson and other athletic stars probably don’t know Alba, a peaceful town in Piedmont (northern Italy), surrounded by vineyards producing the famous Barolo .
This is where Mondo, a family business that has become a world reference in sports coverings and equipment, particularly in athletics, is based.
“Our Olympic history began in 1976 in Montreal (…) In Paris, it will be our 13th Olympic Games,” relishes Maurizio Stroppiana, vice-president of the sports division of Mondo and son of one of the two founders.
Behind him, in a long and imposing production line, technicians supervise the manufacturing of the Mondotrack EB, the latest addition to the group which, from August 1 to 11, will be the track for 46 of the 48 athletics events of the 2024 Olympics (the marathons being contested entirely on the road in a round trip between Paris and Versailles).
And even those who discover the complex process of manufacturing an athletics track are struck by a particularity of the Mondotrack EB, its color!
– Violet rather than ocher –
An employee of the Mondo company works on segments of the future athletics track for the Paris Olympics, on March 13, 2024 in Alba, Italy (AFP/MARCO BERTORELLO)
Rather than ocher, or terracotta in the jargon of equipment manufacturers, traditionally used for athletics events, the Parisian organizers opted for purple, unheard of in Olympic history.
“Paris purple will only be used for these Games,” assures Andrea Marenghi, the research and development manager, whose teams toiled over dozens of samples to find “the right shades.”
There will in fact be two purples, one for the competition areas (track, jumps, throwing areas), the other darker for the so-called technical areas, completed finally by a gray reminiscent of the ash of the 1924 Olympic Games. .
A segment of the “Mondotrack EB”, which will equip the athletics track for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, on March 13, 2024 in Alba, Italy (AFP/MARCO BERTORELLO)
“Our desire was to have an original color”, assumes from Paris Alain Blondel, the head of athletics and para-athletics events within Paris-2024.
“These two shades of purple allow us to have +maxi+ contrasts when shooting TV images to highlight the athletes. Our approach is really that the athletes are in the foreground,” adds the former decathlete.
While the future Parisian track with an area of 21,000 m2 (training stadium and warm-up area included) is packaged in imposing rollers 1.50 m wide to be shipped to Paris, Giorgio Lesage details the composition of the track, made of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, mineral compounds, pigments and additives.
– 300 world records –
An employee of the Mondo company works on part of the covering of the Paris-2024 Olympic stadium supposed to imitate the color of the ash of the 1924 Paris Olympics, on March 13, 2024 in Alba, Italy (AFP/MARCO BERTORELLO)
“Up to 50% of the ingredients are recycled or renewable, which allows us to save materials of fossil origin. We were at just over 30% for London 2012,” notes the group’s sustainability and innovation manager.
But even more than the purple top and the more “green” inside, it is the underside of the Parisian track, the cost of which is kept secret, which could be a landmark.
“Compared to the Tokyo track, we have changed the design of the cells of the lower layer of the track (which rests on the asphalt): this reduces the loss of energy for the athlete and gives it back to him at the best time of his gesture”, assures Maurizio Stroppiana.
In other words, the Stade de France track could be even “faster” than that of Tokyo where three world records were broken in 2021 including that of the women’s 400m hurdles by the American Sydney McLaughlin.
Mondo is very proud of the 300 world records that have been established on “her” slopes.
A robot from the Mondo company, simulating the impact of a human foot on the track, tests the “Mondotrack EB” which will equip the athletics track at the Stade de France for the Paris 2024 Olympics, March 13, 2024 in Alba, Italy (AFP/MARCO BERTORELLO)
“We cannot do what we want, warns Andrea Marenghi. There are very strict criteria laid down by the International Federation, because the most important thing is to preserve the health of the athlete and not to distort His gesture”.
“Athletes are more efficient,” he insists, “the track doesn’t give the athlete anything that he or she is not capable of doing.”
© 2024 AFP
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