THE XXI COMMONWEALTH GAMES (8/15 APRIL 2018) WERE HELD AT THE CARRARA STADIUM, A FOOTBALL STADIUM ON QUEENSLAND'S GOLD COAST IN AUSTRALIA, WHICH WAS TEMPORARILY CONVERTED INTO AN ATHLETICS STADIUM FOR THIS EVENT. ONCE AGAIN, MONDO WAS SELECTED TO SUPPLY THE TRACK FOR THE EVENT BY THE ORGANISERS, WHO WERE LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION THAT COULD OFFER SUPERB PERFORMANCE FOR ATHLETES WITH ZERO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. THEY FOUND IT, IN OUR SPORTFLEX SUPER X 720.
The Commonwealth Games are a series of sporting events held every four years in one of the Commonwealth nations, attracting a host of high-level athletes, including winners of the Olympics and the World Championships. In 2018, the games were held at the Carrara Stadium in the city of the same name in Queensland, Australia. As was the case for the Commonwealth Games in 2014, instead of building a stadium from scratch, the organisers decided to temporarily convert the town's football stadium into an athletics arena, using materials capable of supporting the performance of the athletes, but which could subsequently be removed and used elsewhere, without impacting the environment, and whilst preserving the legacy of the games. "The track is beautiful and responds extremely well. The atmosphere is amazing...", explained Cedric Dubler, an Australian decathlete who visited and presented the converted stadium alongside hurdling champion Sally Pearson ahead of the start of the races (watch here the video!).
The situation in 2018 was similar to that for the 2014 Games, when the organisers at Glasgow's Hampten Stadium chose Mondo to convert the football ground into an athletics stadium; following the event, the track was dismantled and donated to a number of schools in the area (read the case history and watch the installation video here). - This was the case for the Carrara Stadium too, where we laid our SPORTFLEX SUPER X 720 track ahead of the event - click here to watch the video.
But that's not all.
Once the games were over, the track was dismantled and relaid in various schools in the area; Ken Fuller, Executive Director – Corporate Services for the Canterbury College in Waterford, made the following comment to us: Canterbury College was successful with obtaining the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 400 metre track at the completion of the games. What could have been a logistical nightmare coordinating the relevant suppliers from different countries to install the track, the process was made easier by both the Mondo representative in Australia, Spectrum Floors in Adelaide (ed.: a Mondo distributor in Australia since 1988, in charge of supervising the installation) and Mondo themselves in Italy, due to the assistance provided and patience exhibited as the College gained an understanding of the complexities of building an elite athletics track. Although deadlines were very tight and rain caused construction delays, the College found both Mondo and Spectrum to be accommodating in shifting work flows to ensure that they could fit in with the Australian contractors. The end result was a finished product that not only met the International standard for Certification, but surpassed the College expectations. The College was also more than happy with the after sales service. When a small issue arose after the completion, Mondo and Spectrum Floors immediately responded, providing not only a solution, but also the expert personnel capable of fixing the issue quickly without hesitation. I couldn’t recommend either Mondo of Spectrum Floors enough to any prospective purchaser of Mondo products; they made the building of the track an enjoyable experience.
Images of the track installed at Canterbury College.
Canterbury College is just one of many places that have benefited from the track upon which a number of world records were set: a further hundred schools in addition to the college have received a Mondo long jump track.
The results of the 2018 Commonwealth Games served as further confirmation of the superb results that can be achieved on Mondo tracks: at the event, a total of 7 World Leads were beaten, and a new Championship record was set!
And we are delighted to have been able to provide support to the athletes and enhance the sports facilities of a number of schools, all while operating with zero environmental impact.