This year sees the Golden Anniversary of Mondo introducing the first pre-manufactured vulcanised – hardened - natural rubber track to the world. The year 1969 was significant for so many social and cultural reasons and it’s fair to say the world of athletics was never the same again.
Mondo subsequently went on to supply the track for the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and has gone on to be the chosen competition track at every Olympic Games since then, as well as many IAAF World Championships and European Athletics Championships.
Next year, Mondo will provide the competition track at both the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in the case of the latter competition making it the track supplier of the last 12 editions of the world’s greatest multi-sport event.
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We look back at some of the main landmarks of Mondo track technology.
- 1976 - Mondo was the supplier of the track of the Montreal Olympic Games.
- 1983 - Mondo developed the first multi-density layered system called the Fine-Tuned Panel, which combined a firm top layer on the track for speed with a compressible bottom layer for comfort and cushioning.
- 1986 - Mondo refined its Fine-Tuned Panel and tracks could now be custom made to accommodate the longer training sessions being demanded by coaches. This was to become the industry standard for track manufacturers.
- 1988 - Mondo introduced the hydraulic banked track – which could raise and lower the track surface in minutes – which featured two curved track sections that could be banked for the sprints and enabled runners to maintain their speeds going into the turns.
- 1992 - Mondo’s Super X Competition Track was designed for the Barcelona Olympic Games.
- 1996 - Mondo fine-tuned its Super X Competition Track to help the Atlanta Olympic Games being remembered as a record-breaking Olympics.
- 1999 - Mondo introduced its Super X Performance Track, which improved shock absorption and was designed to be an ideal track for daily training as well as competition since tracks in many parts of the world are predominantly used for training. The Super X Performance Track was the competition track for both the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
- 2007 - Mondo introduced the Mondotrack, the newest generation of vulcanized rubber track surfaces which helped increased overall athletic performance. The Mondotrack was the competition track of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and London 2012 Olympic Games.
- 2016 - Mondo introduced Mondotrack WS, a newer, faster version of Mondotrack, ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games where it was the competition track. The rubber-based top layer provides unparalleled elasticity and a uniform response over the entire track surface thanks to its elongated honeycomb-shaped geometric construction.