Olympics | A wild claim from the creator of the surface of the running track in Paris – experts knock down: “Athletics would shoot itself in the foot”

of Tokyo at the Olympics, records were set on the track, which is considered the fastest in world history.

According to new information, the title of the fastest track is moving to the Stade de France in Paris.

In 2021, manufacturing athletics fields Mondo said that the track used in Tokyo is two percent faster than in Rio 2016.

Now the company’s CEO Maurizio Stroppiana tells BBCfor the Paris track to be two percent faster than the Tokyo track.

Athletics expert Lauri Hollo doubts the claim as a marketing pitch by the company.

“It is such a wild claim. I don’t think that the development of technology can go that fast,” says Hollo.

“A two percent improvement would help so shockingly that a new world record would be set practically every trip.”

In athletics there has also been a lot of talk recently about the development of shoe technology. New carbon fiber-based sneakers and spikes improve athletes’ performance in every sport.

In Hollo’s opinion, however, the development of sports field technology is more worrying than shoes. Anyone can buy footwear, but not expensive court coverings.

“If such a field is invented, it should be available everywhere.”

According to Hollon, the development of technology and tools cannot be avoided.

“But if it leads to inequality, then it’s not a good thing at all.”

If the track in Paris really is as fast as it is claimed, it would do a disservice to athletics, according to Hollo. People would be disappointed if the results were no longer produced on the regular pitches of the diamond leagues after the Olympics.

“Athletics would shoot itself in the foot.”

Ella Junnilan coach Tuomas Sallinen got to test the Stade de France surface on Thursday.

“The surface feels hard, but the clock and the results will show how fast it is,” Sallinen said on Friday via text message from the high altitude.

Sallinen does not believe that the results will improve by two percent in Paris. He reminds that many variables affect sports performance.

“After all, sports are not such easy mathematics.”

As a slingshot says in a BBC interview that the construction of the purple line in Paris took ten weeks.

What makes the track particularly fast is what lies beneath the outermost layer. The rubber “beehive material” returns the energy caused by step contact back to the athlete’s foot as he pushes forward from the surface.

Mondo has covered every Olympic athletics field since the 1976 Montreal Games.