PARIS 2024 – A color that stands out in the largest sports venue in the country. The athletics track is being installed at the Stade de France, which is getting a facelift before the main events of Paris-2024. And as you can see in our video at the top of the articleit sports a purple color, a first for an athletics track.
The organizers of Paris 2024 wanted “step out of the box a little bit, have a creative approach by breaking away from the usual colors which are ocher, terra cotta”, explains Alain Blondel, responsible for athletics and para-athletics events at the Organizing Committee (Cojo). Purple, along with green and blue, is one of the three colors associated with the Paris Games and adopted in all competition venues.
The track is made up of two different tones, one light for the competition areas and the other dark for the service areas. A little nod to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris is made thanks to a gray which completes the palette to recall the cinder track of a hundred years ago.
A purple and “more eco-responsible” trail
Straight from Piedmont in northern Italy, the track rolls are unpacked and carefully placed on the asphalt of a gray and silent Stade de France. This sports covering was designed by Mondo, an Italian family business, a world reference in sports equipment, which is celebrating its 13th Olympic Games with Paris 2024.
The track, nicknamed Mondotrack EB, claims to be “much more eco-responsible” than in previous competitions. Pounded mussel shells were used to reduce the amount of oil-bearing material on the track composed primarily of rubber.
13,000 square meters of coverings must be laid, i.e. more than 1,000 rolls with a width of 1.50 m requiring 2,800 pots of glue and good weather. The Italian technicians dispatched to Saint-Denis, north of Paris, must also respect the level of flatness imposed by the international athletics federation. The project is expected to last several weeks with the official handover of the keys to Cojo on June 1st.
“Apart from the color, the base under the athletes’ feet will be almost the same” than in Tokyo where many records have fallen, rejoices Alain Blondel, who did not wish to reveal the cost of the operation. The brand new track at the Stade de France will be used by its first athletes on August 2, the start of the Olympic athletics program.
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