New look, same super performance in the Emirates Arena
Visitors to the Emirates Arena for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 between 1-3 March could be forgiven for a second take at the famed indoor track.
After 12 years, with the previous athletics surface having been installed in 2012, the iconic hydraulic track has recently been transformed from its well-known hue of blue and grey to a stunning and eye-catching red and grey, with the colours alternating from lane to lane.
Below are the images of the new athletics track in Glasgow
With the world’s premier indoor event being staged in the Scottish city – following on from a memorable 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships and a myriad of well received British events – everyone agreed was time to freshen up the track’s image and the 200m banked athletics track was resurfaced with the world-leading Sportflex Super X 720 product in November.
Approximately 630 athletes from around 150 countries are expected to make their way to Glasgow for the highlight of the 2024 indoor season and experience the sensational new colour scheme.
But even before this, the venue and the athletics track made history.
In 2020 the Arena witnessed pole vault superstar Mondo Duplantis memorably clear a world record 6.18m together with 8 other world leading times and 18 national records in various disciplines.
One of the key features of the Emirates Arena’s hydraulic track system is that the hall can be returned to a flat floor of 5000 square metres in a matter of minutes, so that the venue can be used for other sport and non-sport events, maximising the use of the asset.
The Sportflex Super X athletics surface at the Emirates Arena stands out from a performance perspective, with plaudits from athletes all around the world. This is down to its Air Cell Technology incorporating a backing that is full of air-filled cavities that compress as the athlete’s foot hits the surface, absorbing impact force and vibrations, and converting the maximum amount of kinetic energy into stored energy.
So as soon as the athlete’s foot leaves the surface, the cells spring back to their original shape, returning nearly all the stored energy.
Mondo athletics tracks are prefabricated, made with vulcanized rubber under controlled production conditions; they offer a uniform dynamic response and complete control over stride, rhythm and balance to each athlete, decreasing energy expenditure during athletic activity. The uniformity of the track, in addition to improving the athletes' performance, helps to reduce the risk of injuries.
Furthermore, they do not release microplastics: they are characterized by a compact surface layer without coatings and partially incorporated microplastic granules, which could detach over time, contaminating the surrounding environment.
Since 2019 all Mondo’s track products are certified Gold by industry-respected Greenguard, guaranteeing users the highest standard of safety and environmental measures, with the lowest emissions of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds).
In addition, as a World Athletics Supplier, all the sports equipment in the Emirates Arena for the duration of the championships will be provided by Mondo.
A similar service was provided by Mondo at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 and you can read all about Mondo’s involvement in this historic event here.