Athletics, Olympics 2024: Why track records are in danger at the Paris Games

After six swimming world records were shattered at the Tokyo Olympic Games three years ago, the pool at the La Defense Arena in Paris is facing a paucity of new records. Only one new world record has been set in swimming at the 2024 Olympic Games so far new, in the men’s 100m freestyle event.

While it seems to have put a dampener on the aquatics events at the Games, elsewhere in athletics, there is excitement as several long standing records are expected to be crossed over the course of the a week at the Stade de France.

The track events, which started on Friday, provided a glimpse of what to expect for the remainder of the Games in athletics. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei won the men’s 10,000m gold, bettering the previous Olympic record held by Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia since 2009.

Cheptegei clocked 26:43.14 mins compared to Bekele’s 27:01.17 mins. An improvement by almost 18 seconds.

However, what stunned the world, was the fact that a whopping 13 runners, including Cheptegei went past Bekele’s Olympic record in Paris with athletes from Spain, South Africa, and France registering their respective national records.

This was just hours after the United States’ 4x400m mixed relay team shattered the existing world record in the event by more than a second in the first round heat.

With more than 40 track and field events slated to be held at the Stade de France, this trend is expected to continue. But why?

The high quality athletes in contention at the Games is only one part of it.

The other reason lies in the type of track on offer. For the first time in history, a purple coloured track adorns the athletics stadium in the Olympics.

The track made by Mondo – an Italian manufacturer – is claimed to be the fastest track ever made by the company.

Athletes, who competed on Day 1 of track events at the Paris Olympics, seem to agree.

“It’s [the track] super quick,” said 800m runner Kelly Hodgkinson of Great Britain, as per The Guardian. “My legs were turning around and I was trying to slow down.”

Hodgkinson had clocked 1:59.30 min to win her women’s 800m heat.

What is a fast track?

In simple terms, a fast track is one that allows the athletes to perform better and clock better timings.

There are a lot of design specifics and technology that goes into creating these faster tracks.

Mondo has been developing tracks for the Olympic Games since the 1976 edition in Montreal, Canada, which marked the use of a rubber track for the first time.

Early tracks used at the Olympics in mid-19th century used to be made of cinder. It used to be faster, harder and replaced the grass, and wooden running surfaces earlier.

Cinder tracks made way for polyurethane tracks in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico before Mondo produced the first-ever vulcanised natural rubber track in 1972, which were used at the Olympic Games four years later.

The track at the 1976 Games was hard and faster than before, but often left athletes with pain in their calves after an intense run. Thus, began Mondo’s journey to find a way to better their running tracks.

The track used at the 2020 Olympics – Mondo WS-TY4 – was then the fastest the world had seen. Three world records were subsequently broken in athletics at the delayed Games in Tokyo.

Sydney McLaughlin, in women’s 400m hurdles, was one of the three, who wrote her name in history books.

“Some tracks just absorb your bounce and your motion; this one regenerates it and gives it back to you,” McLaughlin said post the Tokyo Olympics. “I would say it’s a pretty fast track. You can feel a little bit of difference.”

But three years later, Mondo claim that their track for the 2024 Paris Games – Mondotrack EB – is at least two percent faster than one used in Tokyo.

The purple track in Paris is a result of a long research conducted by Mondo and with the Polymer Engineering Laboratory of Milan Polytechnic.

Much like the Mondo WS-TY4, the Mondotrack EB also is also developed from a pre-fabricated material made in rubber and rolls – the exact technology used for the tyres used by Formula 1 cars. But instead of tyres, it is made into a sheet which is composed of two layers vulcanised – or hardened – together.

The two layers work together to absorb the shock more when an athlete’s foot makes contact with the surface, and has a trampoline-effect, as it pushes back with more energy.

The lower layer has a honeycomb air cell structure which is where the major change lies. The structure now has an elliptical shape.

This change, the manufacturers believe, will help the track react smoothly and dynamically to each action of an athlete – jump, throw, step. It will help in better absorption and return of the energy generated by the athlete.

“Elliptical-profile air cells have a greater deformation capacity than hexagonal-profile air cells due to their more flexible shape, the absence of sharp edges, and a larger contact surface,” read a statement on Mondo’s website.

The absence of sharp edges means that it can adapt better to movements and thereby help improve performance.

Add to this, the recent advancements in shoes, with the spray-on technology helping to develop lighter shoes, it seems like there will be quite a few records broken at the Stade de France during this week.