A new high-performance track
at Zurich Letzigrund stadium could see the arena return to its record-breaking
glory days during two key athletics meetings this summer. But the athletes had
better make sure they have the right spikes.
The
Letzigrund has long had a “magic” reputation, having enjoyed 25 world records,
including in sprints, over several decades. But its last one, albeit in the
women’s pole vault, dates back five years.
But with
the arena hosting the European Athletics
Championships from August 12-17 and 11 days later, theWeltklasse Diamond League meeting – featuring a certain Usain
Bolt, the world’s fastest man - it was decided to give the track an early
CHF800,000 ($886,000) facelift, in the form of a retopping.
“We are
going to be the only stadium this year to have that kind of surface and we hope
that is going to be a competitive advantage,” Patrick Magyar, CEO of both the
European Championships and the Weltklasse, told swissinfo.ch.
He
believes the surface will improve athletes’ performance and help protect them
from injury.
Niche leader
The
retopping was designed by sports surface specialist CONICA. Tucked away in an industrial estate on the outskirts
of the northern Swiss city of Schaffhausen, CONICA took several years to
develop the new Zurich track, and the firm worked closely with sports
scientists and athletes, CEO Ulrich Daum says.
Donning a
hard hat – Daum’s is personalised – and protective arm coverings over our
T-shirts, he shows off the chemical plant where the track components are
produced.
Huge vats
of chemicals are being churned. Some will be used for other indoor sports
surfaces, others for industrial flooring. The workers greet their boss cheerily
as they monitor the vats’ progress, or move vats around by forklift.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Isobel Leybold-Johnson in
Zurich
The
high-performance surface at the Letzigrund is the big project of the moment.
But the
retopping work at the stadium, which ended in July, was not without a few
nervous moments, Daum explained. Downpours deluged Switzerland in July, with
fears the track wouldn’t have the rain-free 24 hours needed to be laid and set.
A dry weather patch meant the “disaster” was averted.
The bright
red track’s main component is polyurethane, which is also used, for example, in
the automotive industry in car seat foam.
CONICA
must adhere to general rules about the technical features of the track,
explained Hans-Jochen Erb, CONICA’s head of global marketing communications.
Plus the
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) must certify
track systems to hold international events. But there are no specific rules on
the materials to be used, for example, he said.
The
retopping’s first layer is designed to be soft and cushioning to give back the
runner part of the energy they have exerted. The second layer is harder,
allowing the athlete to better propel him or herself forwards and to have
better stability.
Faster, more stable
CONICA
worked with the Institute of Biomechanics and Orthopedics of the German
Sport University Cologne to run tests. “Measurements showed that we have something like 10% less
energy loss from the athlete, and that should give a basis for good physics on
the ground, to have good work between the surface track, the shoe and the
athlete,” Daum said.
But it was
also shown that sprinters first needed to get used to running on the harder
track. Men apply more weight and force to the track than women, giving them an
advantage. The solution: shoes with sharper spikes for a stronger surface
impact. This particularly applies to lighter women, scientists found, but could
also help men as well.
Female
athletes speaking to Swiss television during tests at the Letzigrund training
track said they still had to get used to the hardness of the new surface. But
measurements there showed a further advantage: not only were the athletes
running faster, their key ankle and knee joints were more stable, reducing the
risk of injury during sprints.
World
record pole vault holder Frenchman Renaud
Lavillenie has also tested the
track. He told swissinfo.ch at a European Championships media conference in May
that it looked “strong and not so soft, so I think it’s a good surface to be
able to jump high”. Of course, only after competing will he know for sure.
Records?
So could
there be records at the European Championships, and what about Bolt at the
Weltklasse?
“Everybody
is talking about that, but it’s the athlete that has to run and not the track,”
Daum said, with a smile. “It would be nice. From the pure physics which we
supply the athletes, it should be possible but more than 60-70% is the
athlete.”
And
Magyar’s hopes? He will be bowing out this season as meeting director of the
Weltklasse, “So of course I hope to end with panache,” he said.
Two big
athletics events
European Athletics Championships, August 12-17: 14,000
athletes from 50 countries, 47 sets of medals to be awarded, 25,000 spectators
expected per day, around 370 million television viewers.
Weltklasse Zurich, August 28: top athletics stars
include Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica), David Rudisha (Kenya), and Usain
Bolt (Jamaica), around 20,000 spectators, 15 million television viewers.
By Isobel
Leybold-Johnson in Schaffhausen, swissinfo.ch
