Viewers tuning in to watch the world’s fastest runners at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris may notice an unusual color on the athletic track. The Stade de France in Paris features a striking purple track, a significant departure from the traditional rusty or brick red tracks of previous Games.
The track, in use from July 26 to August 11, is produced by Italian manufacturer Mondo, the same company that has supplied the Olympic tracks since the 1976 Montreal Summer Games.
A Shell-Infused Track
The 2024 track incorporates natural materials, aligning with the International Olympic Committee’s commitment to sustainability. The track uses bivalve mollusk shells, such as those from clams and mussels, which are abundant in the Mediterranean Sea. These shells, rich in calcium carbonate, are typically used in resilient flooring. Nieddittas, an Italian cooperative of fishers, collects, cleans, and prepares the shells, which Mondo then grinds into a powder for use in the track.
Mondo states that this eco-sustainable supply chain transforms waste into valuable resources. Constructing an athletics track with biogenic carbonate offsets the emissions of a Euro 4 diesel car traveling over 37,000 miles and reduces landfill waste.
“This innovation gives rise to a new generation of resilient and sustainable sports flooring surfaces, inspired by biological principles,” the company announced in a press release.
The purple hue, however, is not derived from the bivalve shells. It was chosen by the Paris Games organizers as one of the event's official colors, along with blue and green.
“That’s one of the colors of the Games that we have along with blue and green,” Paris 2024 sports manager Alain Blondel told the Associated Press. “The rubber itself is of perfect quality, the best quality. I’m confident that we will have something exceptional in this stadium.”
At the 2020 Tokyo Games, Mondo’s red-brick track, advances in training, and new super-spike shoes contributed to numerous record-breaking performances, including Sydney McLaughlin’s 51.46-second gold medal run in the 400-meter hurdles.
The new track debuted at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Early feedback from runners and organizers suggests it will be a fast track that “feels like a jewel.” Alongside its unique color, the track incorporates innovative materials to enhance performance.
“We are focusing on the dynamic connection between the track and a new generation of shoes,” Mondo research and development manager Alessandro Piceli told The Guardian. “While we see the aesthetics of the track, significant work goes into the underlayer. A new granule of polymeric material, first used in the Tokyo track, has been improved for Paris. Our team of chemists, engineers, and physicists works diligently to optimize material performance.”
These modern tracks are more elastic and cohesive, with multiple algorithms used to create an optimal shape and dimension for the air cells inside the track. This design reduces energy loss and aims to improve performance, but only time will tell what new records will be set on Paris' purple track.