An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, various forms of dirt, rocks, sand, and crushed cinders were used. Many examples of these varieties of track still exist worldwide.
Starting in 1954, artificial surfaces using a combination of rubber and asphalt began to appear. An artificial warm-up track was constructed for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. [1] During the 1960s many of these tracks were constructed; examples still exist today. [2]
In the mid-1960s Tartan tracks were developed, surfaced with a product by 3M. The name Tartan is a trademark, but it is sometimes used as a genericized trademark. [3] This process was the first to commercialize a polyurethane surface for running tracks, though it was originally conceived for horse racing. [4] Many Tartan tracks were installed worldwide, including at many of the top universities in the United States. [1] Among that list was a Tartan track installed in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, home of the 1968 Summer Olympics at Mexico City, which were the first global championships to use such a track. Olympic shot put champion Bill Nieder was instrumental in developing the product and selling it for this first use in the Olympics. [5] An all-weather surface has become standard ever since.
Another Tartan track was installed on a temporary basis for the 1968 United States Olympic Trials held at altitude at Echo Summit, California, before being moved to South Tahoe Middle School, where it survived for almost 40 years. An original Tartan track is still in place at "Speed City" San Jose State University.
Surfacing tracks has become an industry with many competitors.
There are other techniques that distribute small chunks of rubber then adhere them in place with various polyurethane or latex substances.
World Athletics, the governing body for international track and field competitions, publishes very specific regulations for the conduct of Global Championship or International level track meets under their jurisdiction. [16]
Since the early 1980s, the manufacturer of the surfaces selected for most championship meets has been the Italian company, Mondo, again the trademarked brand name becoming used as a genericized trademark. Mondo's track surface is called Mondotrack. The surface differs from the particles stuck in adhesion techniques, in that they are more of a rubber carpet, cut to size then tightly seamed together (in the linear direction along the lane lines). This form of construction gives a more consistent bounce (or energy return) and traction. [17] Because of the tight fit specifications required for manufacture, construction surrounding these sites also has to be of a higher standard, making a Mondotrack one of the most expensive systems to use. Examples of Mondotracks were used for the 1996 Summer Olympics (since removed from the Centennial Olympic Stadium) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States; 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece; 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China; 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [18] [19]
Another player in the marketplace is the formerly BASF-owned company Conica, based in Switzerland, now part of the Serafin Group (Munich, Germany), [20] which can boast the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany (where Usain Bolt improved his 100 metres and 200 metres world records), along with other record hosting venues like Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. [21]
The proper length of the first lane of a competitive running track is 400 m (1,312.3 ft).
Some tracks are not built to this specification, instead being a legacy to imperial distances such as 440 yd (402.336 m).
Prior to rule changes in 1979, distances in Imperial units were still used in the United States. Some facilities build tracks to fit the available space, with one of the most notable examples of this being Franklin Field, where the 400 metre distance is achieved in lane 4.
Olympic tracks in the early 20th century were of other lengths: each lane of the track could (by IAAF rules should) be as wide as 122 cm (4.00 ft), [22] though the majority of American tracks are built to NFHS high school specifications that allow smaller lanes. [23] The IAAF also specifies a preferred radius for the turns at 37 metres, but also allows a range. Major international level meets are conducted and world records can be set on tracks that are not exactly 37 meters, provided they fall within the legal range.
| Lane | Total length | Radius | Semi-circle length | Delta | Angle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 400.00 m | 36.80 m | 115.61 m | 0.00 m | 0.00° |
| 2 | 407.67 m | 38.02 m | 119.44 m | 3.83 m | 5.78° |
| 3 | 415.33 m | 39.24 m | 123.28 m | 7.67 m | 11.19° |
| 4 | 423.00 m | 40.46 m | 127.11 m | 11.50 m | 16.28° |
| 5 | 430.66 m | 41.68 m | 130.94 m | 15.33 m | 21.08° |
| 6 | 438.33 m | 42.90 m | 134.77 m | 19.16 m | 25.60° |
| 7 | 446.00 m | 44.12 m | 138.61 m | 23.00 m | 29.86° |
| 8 | 453.66 m | 45.34 m | 142.44 m | 26.83 m | 33.90° |
| 9 | 461.33 m | 46.56 m | 146.27 m | 30.66 m | 37.73° |
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a group are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". This event has a history in the ancient Olympic Games and has been a modern Olympic event for men since the first Olympics in 1896 and for women since 1948.
Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.
Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an opponent. Human physiology dictates that a runner's near-top speed cannot be maintained for more than 30–35 seconds due to the depletion of phosphocreatine stores in muscles, and perhaps secondarily to excessive metabolic acidosis as a result of anaerobic glycolysis.
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running and racewalking. In British English the term "Athletics" is synonymous with American "Track and Field" and includes all jumping events.
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically 3–12 kilometres (1.9–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road and minor obstacles. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method. Both men and women of all ages compete in cross country, which usually takes place during autumn and winter, and can include weather conditions of rain, sleet, snow or hail, and a wide range of temperatures.
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
Weltklasse Zürich is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final of the Wanda Diamond League, alongside Memorial Van Damme between 2010 and 2019. In 2021, Welklasse Zürich will serve as the sole final of the Diamond League. One of the first large-scale international athletics events, it is sometimes referred to as the one-day Olympics. Weltklasse Zürich first took place on 12 August 1928. In the beginning, the meeting was nicknamed by the public the "Nurmi meeting" after the most admired and celebrated participant at the time, Paavo Nurmi. On 21 June 1960, on the Letzigrund track, Armin Hary became the first human to run the 100 m dash in 10.0 seconds.
Drake Stadium is a stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Best known as the home of the Drake Relays, it also serves as the home field of the university's football team. It opened in 1925.
Tartan Track is a trademarked all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions, manufactured by 3M. The original production was in 1967, and the product was later reformulated to eliminate the use of mercury. Relative to some other surfaces, it lets athletes compete in bad weather without serious performance loss and improves their results over other surfaces. It also provides a more consistent surface for competition even under optimum weather. Similar tracks have become the standard for most elite competitions.
Spec Towns Track is the track and field facility and stadium for the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia. The track was originally built in 1964 and the stadium grandstand was added in 1987 to accommodate 1,000 spectators. In 2011, the Bulldogs hosted their first Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships since 1999 at the Spec Towns Track. Following the 2017 track season, the track was upgraded to a 400-meter, 8-lane Mondo Sportflex Super X720 surface, replacing the old polyurethane track.
Hodges Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the University of North Florida (UNF), and the home field for the North Florida Ospreys soccer, track and field, and cross country teams. It is located on the university's campus in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. It is named for George and Kernan Hodges, who donated $2 million to upgrade the facility in 2006.
John McDonnell Field is the outdoor track facility at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and is home to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The field is named after former head coach John McDonnell, who ended his thirty-six-year collegiate head coaching career as the most successful coach in NCAA track history, attaining a total of 42 NCAA Championships in three different sports with the Razorbacks. Renovated in 2006, it is one of only ten International Association of Athletics Federations Class 1 certified tracks in the United States.
Ergo Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena, that was opened in 2010. The boundary between two cities – Sopot and Gdańsk – runs through the very middle of the hall. The arena has a capacity of 11,409 people, for sports events and up to 15,000, with standing places, for concerts.
Beynon Sports Surfaces is a manufacturer and installer of synthetic all-weather running tracks. They are part of Tarkett Sports and are based in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Beynon Sports Surfaces manufactures three types of outdoor synthetic athletic tracks; spray coat, sandwich and full pour polyurethane. They also offer surfaces for fieldhouses and gymnasiums.
The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the IAAF. The event was held between 7–9 March 2014 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland.
Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics were held during the last ten days of the Games. They were due to be held from 31 July – 9 August 2020, at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the games were postponed to 2021, with the track and field events set for 30 July – 8 August. The sport of athletics at these Games was split into three distinct sets of events: track and field events, remaining in Tokyo, and road running events and racewalking events, moved to Sapporo. A total of 48 events were held, one more than in 2016, with the addition of a mixed relay event.
Mondo S.p.A. is an Italian company best known for manufacturing and installing track and field and other athletic surfaces. The company was founded in 1948 in Alba, Piedmont by Edmondo Giovanni Stroppiana, who used part of his name to name the organization. Mondo has supplied track and field surfaces for the last ten Olympic Games. The company also produces commercial rubber flooring for schools, hospitals, office buildings, and more.
Armand Gustav "Mondo" Duplantis is a Swedish-American pole vaulter, the current world outdoor and indoor record holder, the current Olympic and two time World outdoor and one-time indoor champion, the current European champion, and the current Diamond League champion. He won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. Duplantis is a two-time European champion from 2018, when he set current world under-20 record, and from 2022. Indoors, he is 2022 World Indoor Championship and 2021 European Indoor Championship gold medallist.
Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He holds the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays is tied as the #4 on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
Mondotrack is a trademarked synthetic track surface used for Track and field athletics. Mondotrack is developed by Mondo, a world leader in Track and field surfacing. Research was done to achieve the best possible surface for track events that will enhance performance and decrease the chance of injury. All Mondotracks come with a woven top layer and a hexagonal base layer. Unlike other tracks, Mondotracks can be different colors. Mondotracks are very prominent around the world.
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