The Stade de France under construction.
On April 17, the 100-day countdown to the Paris Olympic Games, the Stade de France, which hosts the track and field competition of the Paris Olympic Games, is also working on the renovation of the track, and this bright and environmentally friendly purple track will leave a unique memory for the Paris Olympic Games.
According to the engineering plan, the purple runway will be installed by the end of May and officially handed over to the Paris Organising Committee on June 1. "Our work is on track. Despite the fact that it was raining a bit heavily, the installation was going well. Alleyne Brownel, sports manager in charge of athletics at Paris 2024, explains.
In fact, the most people are most concerned about why the Paris Olympics chose purple for the track and field competition?
Brondell thinks purple is very reminiscent of lavender in France, but more importantly, the Paris Olympics want to make a difference: "The main thing is to provide a different look from the tracks we've seen before, to maintain the creative approach that the organising committee has maintained since its inception, to break the mold." ”
This color is reminiscent of lavender.
The purple runway is packed with high technology.
In fact, if you look closely, you will find that the appearance of all the venues of the Paris Olympics is three colors - blue, green and purple. "We decided to distinguish the different areas by shades of colour, with the light for the track, the dark for the technical areas, and the track line and the outer edge of the track filled with grey, reminiscent of the smoky grey track of the 1924 Paris Olympics 100 years ago. Brondel thinks the current Stade de France has a striking color palette with a distinct sense of layering, "both for the eyes and for the broadcast image." ”
The purple track is unprecedented, but the former European decathlon champion believes it's more than just pretty: "We have to work on the colors so that we can highlight the athletes in the best shades." The track must be beautiful, of course, but most importantly, it is a stage for the athletes to perform. ”
The manufacturer of this purple track is the top track manufacturer Mondo Company, which has provided track and field tracks for the Olympic Games since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. According to Maurizio Stropiana, the company's deputy head of athletics, the lower level of the new purple track at the Paris Olympics is different from the track used in the Tokyo Olympics and will help to "reduce the energy loss of athletes" and create good results. Know that three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, athletes broke 3 world records and set 12 Olympic records on the iconic red track.
According to the British "Event Insider" website, the Mondo R&D department studied dozens of samples before finalizing the "purple". In addition, the new runway will include synthetic rubber, natural rubber, mineral components, pigments and additives, of which about 50% will be made from recycled or renewable materials. This compares to about 30% of the track and field tracks used at London 2012.
Therefore, this purple track meets the elements of environmental protection and technology, and can create more possibilities for track athletes.
Renderings released by the Paris Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.
In addition, some events have moved the area of competition compared to previous track and field events. For example, a ninth track has been added, and a bunker has been added in the middle for the long jump and triple jump. Typically, the long jump will have two tracks, each with a bunker at the end. This time, a bunker was added to the middle of the venue, where the final will be held, the first time an Olympic level competition has been set up.
"We have to put the long jump in the middle and try to make it the focus. When the athletes are there for the long jump competition, all the spectators can see them from the best angles. It's a very conspicuous track for athletes, and they will have the feeling of running in a corridor. ”
The Paris Organising Committee also hopes that the new Stade de France will help track and field athletes set more records amid the roar of 74,000 spectators.
Of course, the renovation of this sprawling stadium for the Olympics is far more complicated than expected. For example, there are two huge screens in the court, each about the size of a tennis court. The lighting installation has also been renovated with the addition of 650 light clusters.
These large and complex retrofits require extreme precision and a great deal of expertise. A specialist laboratory was set up to ensure that the two layers of asphalt on the runway were laid correctly and that the flatness was precisely ensured.
According to the plan, in the coming weeks, the Stade de France will install between 1.3 and 15,000 square meters of running track, which will use at least 2,800 cans of glue, which interestingly are the same color as the track, all of which are purple.
(Source: The Paper)