{"675536":{"#nid":"675536","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How the Paris Olympic Track Is Designed to Break Records","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvery millisecond will matter when the world\u0027s best athletes gather in Paris for the Summer Olympics, and track and field athletes will compete on a surface designed to produce record-breaking performances. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMondo athletic tracks have been underneath the feet of Olympians since 1972. In that time, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/olympics.com\/en\/news\/paris-2024-olympic-paralympic-athletics-mondo-purple-track-science-innovation\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E300 records were broken on surfaces\u003C\/a\u003E designed and constructed in Alba, Italy, including 15 at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EConsistency Is Key\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s George C. Griffin Track and Field Facility was outfitted with a Mondo track before the 1996 Games to serve as the workout track for the Olympic Village, and the material has been a staple at the facility ever since. Yellow Jacket Track and Field Coach Grover Hinsdale, a coach to three Olympic gold medalists, explains that the consistency in Mondo\u0027s construction sets it apart from all other tracks. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A Mondo track is made in a climate-controlled factory, processed from the raw rubber to the finished product. So, every square inch of Mondo is the same \u2014 same durometer, same thickness, everything is the same. All other rubberized track surfaces are poured on-site, so variables like temperature and humidity affect the result, and you may end up with lanes that don\u0027t set uniformly,\u201d he said. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHinsdale likened the installation process to laying carpet. It will take more than \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/sports\/articles\/2024-04-14\/seeing-purple-fans-get-a-new-track-color-and-maybe-record-breaking-times-at-paris-olympics\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E2,800 glue\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/sports\/articles\/2024-04-14\/seeing-purple-fans-get-a-new-track-color-and-maybe-record-breaking-times-at-paris-olympics\u0022\u003E pots\u003C\/a\u003E to set the 13,000 square meters of track inside Stade de France. Jud Ready, a principal research engineer in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mse.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, says the evolution of the company\u2019s technology has also contributed to producing faster tracks. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022They\u0027re able to alter the rubber track\u0027s energy return mechanism by changing the shape of the particulate and the compressibility of it,\u0022 Ready said. \u0022Longevity is less of a concern for the Paris track, so they can tune it to emphasize speed.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMaximizing Performance\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEach layer of the track surface plays a different role in helping athletes achieve peak performance. Hinsdale describes how those layers come together with each step.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When your foot strikes down on an asphalt surface or you\u0027re running down a sidewalk, there\u0027s virtually no give other than what\u0027s taking place in the muscles and joints of your body. The surface is giving nothing back. When your foot strikes a Mondo surface, it\u0027ll sink in slightly, and the surface gives energy back. This pushes your foot back off that track quicker, putting the foot back into the cycle to complete another stride,\u201d he said. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBecause of the energy given back by the thin and firm surface of the Mondo track, Hinsdale says, sprinters and distance runners will run faster with the same effort they normally exert on any other surface. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAthletes look for every edge to get ahead of the competition. Ready\u0027s course, Materials Science and Engineering of Sports, examines how that advantage can be found at the scientific level.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022All sports are so heavily driven by material advancements these days,\u201d he said. \u201cYes, we use the mechanical properties we\u0027ve used since the Egyptians started racing chariots, but as material scientists, we keep trying to make things better.\u201d \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp lang=\u0022EN-US\u0022\u003EViewers will notice the unique purple hue of the Paris track when the games begin, but Ready and Hinsdale don\u0027t expect the striking color to affect performance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Like the track laid down at Georgia Tech before the 1996 Olympic Games, the Mondo track in Paris was engineered to produce fast times.  "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELike the track laid down at Georgia Tech before the 1996 Olympic Games, the Mondo track in Paris was engineered to produce fast times. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Like the track laid down at Georgia Tech before the 1996 Olympic Games, the Mondo track in Paris was engineered to produce fast times.  "}],"uid":"36418","created_gmt":"2024-07-19 16:43:42","changed_gmt":"2024-08-02 16:53:15","author":"sgagliano3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-07-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674391":{"id":"674391","type":"video","title":"youtube","body":"\u003Cp\u003ELike the track laid down at Georgia Tech before the 1996 Olympic Games, the Mondo track in Paris was engineered to produce fast times. Yellow Jacket Men\u0027s Track and Field Coach Grover Hinsdale and Principal Research Engineer Jud Ready explain the science of the surface.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1721410867","gmt_created":"2024-07-19 17:41:07","changed":"1721417655","gmt_changed":"2024-07-19 19:34:15","video":{"youtube_id":"1OYpEnkGGzU","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1OYpEnkGGzU"}},"674392":{"id":"674392","type":"image","title":"Foot on Track at Georgia Tech\u0027s George C. Griffin Track and Field Facility ","body":null,"created":"1721410965","gmt_created":"2024-07-19 17:42:45","changed":"1721410965","gmt_changed":"2024-07-19 17:42:45","alt":"Foot on Track at Georgia Tech\u0027s George C. Griffin Track and Field Facility ","file":{"fid":"257896","name":"Screenshot 2024-07-19 at 1.06.57\u202fPM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/07\/19\/Screenshot%202024-07-19%20at%201.06.57%E2%80%AFPM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/07\/19\/Screenshot%202024-07-19%20at%201.06.57%E2%80%AFPM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2753941,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/07\/19\/Screenshot%202024-07-19%20at%201.06.57%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=AxgdvLb0"}}},"media_ids":["674391","674392"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"174364","name":"track and field"},{"id":"175856","name":"1996 Olympics"},{"id":"174242","name":"Olympians"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESteven Gagliano\u003C\/a\u003E - Institute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}