The running track at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris has been painted purple in a very bold move – and fans are keen to know why.
The first Olympic events get underway in the French capital on Wednesday and Thursday this week, before the official opening ceremony takes place on Friday.
Some of the upcoming athletic events will take place on a rare purple running track – a colour which has never been used before, according to the Olympic website.
It was a ‘long process’ for Paris 2024 organisers to get it set up. But why have they decided to paint the track purple? Read on to find out…
Why is the Olympic running track purple for the 2024 Paris Games?
Alain Blondel, the sports manager in charge of athletics for Paris 2024, has explained two key reasons why such an unusual decision was made.
The first is that Paris 2024 organisers firmly wanted something ‘outside the box’ – likely to get people talking and build interest – with a huge number of tickets still unsold.
‘The big part of the job was to come up with a track that was different from what we had seen,’ Blondel said.
‘[In order] to maintain the creative approach that the Organising Committee has had since it was set up, to go a little bit outside the box.’
The second reason is because the colour is said to ‘highlight’ athletes who will be competing on the track.
Blondel also explained the turns at the end of the bend are grey in tribute to the ash-coloured tracks at the Paris Games back in 1924.
‘The look of the Games includes three colours for all the competition venues: blue, green and purple,’ he added.
The strangest and most unusual rules at the Olympic Games
The Paris Olympics gets underway on with the opening ceremony taking place on Friday, July 26, 2024. The closing ceremony is on Sunday, August 11, 2024.
It’s not only the purple running track that’s got people talking, there are also a number of bizarre rules at the Games, such as:
– Olympic wrestlers must carry a hanky, known as a “bloodrag,” somewhere in their uniform. It’s used to clean up any bleeding during the competition.
– Competitors in the boxing competition must be clean-shaven or have very limited facial hair. Boxers must be clean shaven to ensure cuts and injuries are easily visible for prompt medical attention and to reduce the risk of abrasions. A pencil mustache, however, is allowed.
– Make sure to lather up that shampoo, because karate referees have the authority to disqualify an athlete if they judge their hair to be insufficiently clean. Clean hair also reduces the risk of transmitting infections and diseases during close-contact combat.
– Water polo is a physically demanding sport, but excessive force, including groin grabbing, is strictly prohibited.
– In Olympic cycling, there’s an unusual uniform rule: socks cannot extend beyond mid-calf length and are subject to measurement, this is in place to maintain fair competition and aerodynamic consistency. Longer socks could provide an aerodynamic advantage by reducing drag, and regulating sock length ensures all cyclists compete under the same conditions.
‘We decided on this purple track with different tones: lighter for the track, darker for the service areas, and grey for the turns at the end of the bend, reminding of the ash-coloured tracks that were there 100 years ago for the Olympic Games Paris 1924.
‘We had to work hard on the colours, so that they came out in the best possible tones to highlight the athletes.
‘It’s a track, it has to be pretty, but above all it’s a stage on which the athletes are going to perform. What’s really important is that the colours and the athletes stand out.’