Paris
Olympic athletes can’t say enough about the newest star gracing the stage at the Paris Games.
“Amazing!” said one sprinter. “Gorgeous,” said another.
“Reminds me of my late grandmother’s orchids,” said American Samoan runner Filomenaleonisa Iakopo.
They were talking about the running track at the Stade de France in Paris, where some of the Games’ most glamorous events will be contested on a surface unlike anything the Olympics has seen before.
This is not the standard brick-red running track you’re used to seeing at major meets. Instead, it’s something much more striking, much more exotic, and much, much more…mauve.
The bright purple track marks a stylistic leap from Olympics past. It still spans 400 meters with lanes just over a meter wide—but this time, those lanes are designed to recall a lavender field.
The bold color choice is a play for posterity, said Camille Yvinec, the brand identity director for Paris 2024, who selected it from the Games’ color scheme of blue, green, red and purple. (Green was ruled out because it clashed with the grass infield.)
“The fact that it’s iconic will matter, because [the athletes’] performances will be recorded with that background,” Yvinec said.
For more than half a century, most track surfaces have been dark red. But for one of the style capitals of the world, dressing like everyone else simply wouldn’t do. The purple track is meant to turn heads and leave an imprint in the historical record: That was in Paris. The color, organizers boast, was “never seen before for an athletics track.”
Early reports from the athletes suggest this year’s track is a speedy one, with the right degrees of cushion and firmness. But it’s the color that has them bouncing up and down. British sprinter Imani Lansiquot even used the Parisian fashion statement to make one of her own. Her eye shadow on Friday precisely matched the shade of the track.
“It makes a mental difference as well,” Lansiquot said. “You instantly feel lifted as you walk out there.”
France’s splashy design choice took a page from the American sports playbook, where college and pro teams have long painted courts and fields in garish shades to stand out.
When the NBA debuted its In-Season Tournament last year, it unveiled 30 striped courts of different colors. Plenty of football fans who couldn’t name a single player for Boise State know one thing about the Broncos: They play on a bright blue field.
If Paris is any indication, the Olympics could be heading in the same direction, with each host setting itself apart with a signature palette, said Kelly Salchow MacArthur, a former Olympic rower and professor of graphic design at Michigan State. “And that’s really exciting.”
The athletes agree. They’re ready for Olympic track’s Technicolor future.
“Nothing wrong with a red track,” said Lansiquot, the sprinter with the lavender eyelids, “but everyone should take a note from Paris.”
