Jerome Pugmire, Associated Press
38 minutes ago
Workers work on the purple athletics track of the Olympic Stadium (now known as the Stade de France) under construction in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. The Olympic Stadium will be the venue for the Paris track and field competitions. 2024 Olympics. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
PARIS (AP) — Fans will see purple at the Olympics when athletes attempt to set records at this summer's Paris Games.
Breaking away from the traditional red brick clay color, the Olympic track will be purple for the first time.
The vulcanized rubber tracks were manufactured at a factory in northern Italy and were being installed by workers at the Stade de France, the national stadium where track events are held.
The workers even appeared to be holding their own events. It's called track rolling.
On their hands and knees, wearing helmets, they patiently and meticulously unroll each strip and drive nails to hold it in place. He has more than 1,000 such rolls on the truck, and the work takes about a month and requires a total of 2,800 pots of glue.
Three years ago, three world records and 12 Olympic marks were set on Tokyo's red brick track.
Mondo has provided the track at every Summer Games since Montreal in 1976 and hopes to do even better in Paris. The new generation of granules has improved elasticity and cohesiveness, and multiple algorithms create a more optimal shape and dimensions for the air cells in the track, reducing energy loss and improving performance.
Sports manager Alain Blondel, who is in charge of the July 26-August 26 track and field event, said more records would be set at the Stade de France. 11th Paris Games and 8 His Paralympics from August 28th to September 28th.
“The first signs are that this is going to be a very, very good track,” said Blondell, a former Olympic decathlete. “When you see athletes on the scoreboard setting new personal bests, it means we've done a good job. They're going to be the best, the best version of their lives.”
But why did we choose purple?
“This is one of the Olympic colors we have, along with blue (and) green,” Blondell said. “The rubber itself is of perfect quality, of the highest quality. I'm sure we'll create something special with this stadium.”
___
https://apnews.com/hub/2024-Paris-Olympic-Games
