New track inaugurated at Barcelona's Olympic Stadium (© Barcelona 2010 LOC)
A new track hailed as one of the fastest in the world was inaugurated today at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, the host site for this summer's European Athletics Championships.
The Mondotrack FTX belongs to the latest synthetic track generation of IAAF Official Supplier Mondo, and apart from its blue and partly green colour, is identical to the track made legendary by Usain Bolt's double World record performance during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Barcelona Mayor Jordi Hereu and European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz were on hand for the official unveiling.
"The inauguration of this stunning track is a fantastic step on the way to the 20th European Athletics Championships in Barcelona and I give my praise to all those involved in making this become a reality," said Wirz. "I am looking forward to seeing some great performances here in the summer."
Inaugurating the track, Hereu said, "It reflects the ambition and passion that Barcelona lives with sport. The track is a milestone for the city and athletics. To just be in this stadium is something special."
The new track installation is part of an infrastructure plan for the European Athletics Championships that includes work on sports facilities including the Pau Negre Stadium and Joan Serrahima Municipal Stadium (warm-up tracks during the championships) as well as the venues Mar Bella and Can Dragó.
A slew of Spanish athletics legends were on hand as well. Fermín Cacho, who won Olympic 1500m gold on the previous track in the Montjuïc stadium in 1992, Javier García Chico, Pole Vault bronze medallist in 1992, Carlos Castrejana, José Manuel Abascal, Valentí Massana, Abel Antón and Martín Fiz all attended the inauguration in their roles as Barcelona 2010 Ambassadors.
All participants of the presentation expressed their wish to see many records on this fast track. But one World record still remains from the previous, red track: American Kevin Young's legendary 46.78 run to take gold in the 400m Hurdles in 1992. His still remains the only sub-47 second performance.
Barcelona 2010 Organisers
The Mondotrack FTX belongs to the latest synthetic track generation of IAAF Official Supplier Mondo, and apart from its blue and partly green colour, is identical to the track made legendary by Usain Bolt's double World record performance during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Barcelona Mayor Jordi Hereu and European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz were on hand for the official unveiling.
"The inauguration of this stunning track is a fantastic step on the way to the 20th European Athletics Championships in Barcelona and I give my praise to all those involved in making this become a reality," said Wirz. "I am looking forward to seeing some great performances here in the summer."
Inaugurating the track, Hereu said, "It reflects the ambition and passion that Barcelona lives with sport. The track is a milestone for the city and athletics. To just be in this stadium is something special."
The new track installation is part of an infrastructure plan for the European Athletics Championships that includes work on sports facilities including the Pau Negre Stadium and Joan Serrahima Municipal Stadium (warm-up tracks during the championships) as well as the venues Mar Bella and Can Dragó.
A slew of Spanish athletics legends were on hand as well. Fermín Cacho, who won Olympic 1500m gold on the previous track in the Montjuïc stadium in 1992, Javier García Chico, Pole Vault bronze medallist in 1992, Carlos Castrejana, José Manuel Abascal, Valentí Massana, Abel Antón and Martín Fiz all attended the inauguration in their roles as Barcelona 2010 Ambassadors.
All participants of the presentation expressed their wish to see many records on this fast track. But one World record still remains from the previous, red track: American Kevin Young's legendary 46.78 run to take gold in the 400m Hurdles in 1992. His still remains the only sub-47 second performance.
Barcelona 2010 Organisers
