After the blue of Rio and the red of Tokyo, the athletics track at the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP) in Paris next summer will be… purple! The information had already been revealed previously but it is currently taking shape. Less than two months before the keys are handed over to Paris-2024, on June 1, the private consortium which manages the Stade de France is finalizing the work for the main events of the Games.
“We wanted to go a little outside the box, show creativity and choose a color that has never existed,” explains Alain Blondel, responsible for athletics events at Cojop. The organizing committee thus chose from the three flagship colors which constitute the palette of the graphic charter of the Paris Games facilities. “The choice of this color really has a marginal cost,” specifies the manager.
A purple track yes, but fast?
Since the end of the Rugby World Cup in October, the Stade de France has closed its doors to the public to adorn itself in its finest finery. Next summer it will host rugby sevens and athletics and para athletics events. The biggest stars on the planet, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sha’Carri Richardson, Kevin Mayer and Mondo Duplantis, will walk on this unique purple tartan.
Will it be as fast as its Japanese counterpart? “We will know between August 2 and 10,” says Alain Blondel. In any case, the basis is the same as in Tokyo in 2021, apart from a few details. » This track with two shades of purple, one for the competition areas – the nine lanes for races, plus the throwing and jumping areas –, another for the technical areas, with a complementary gray reminiscent of the cinder track of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, is also being installed.
New giant screens, new lawn
The Stade de France has also had a makeover in terms of its electrical system and the installation of new generation screens, which are more ecological. “We chose to have two giant screens side by side to allow the simultaneous display of images and data such as starting lists or competition results,” explains Alain Blondel. This is a new comfort for spectators in the stadium. » Each of them measures more than 200 m2, but only two out of four will be kept after the Games, the other two being reused as part of the legacy by Paris 2024 which financed them.
The lawn is not to be outdone either: it was completely replanted at the end of March and covered with a germination veil to be ready for the start of the Olympic rugby sevens tournament on July 24. “There will only be 36 hours between the end of this tournament and the start of the athletics events. We are facing a real challenge of organization and implementation,” further specifies the Organizing Committee, which is pleased for the moment that the deadlines have been respected. “We are happy that there are still 100 days because the timings are really tight,” they tell us. As we have seen, there is still work to do to make the Stade de France the most beautiful setting for these Games.