PURPLE LANE
Olympic chiefs make major change to athletics stadium for Paris 2024 leaving competitors stunned
Athletes have shared their thoughts on the bold move
PARIS Olympics chiefs are determined to do things their own way.
The opening ceremony on Friday will be held along the Seine - the first time it has been moved outside a stadium.
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And there will be some firsts at the Stade de France, too.
In an unprecedented move, the athletics track will be painted PURPLE.
Australian athletes were filmed being told about the shake-up and are excited to see it in action.
Hurdler Michelle Jenneke said: "I had not heard the track in Paris was going to be purple.
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'"That is pretty cool - I'm not sure I've competed on a purple track before, so I can't wait."
Runner Peter Bol added: "That's the first I've heard that.
"You know, regardless of the colour, you've still gotta run 800 metres."
Teenage distance runner Claudia Hollingsworth beamed: "That's so exciting, I can't wait."
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Why is the Olympic track purple?
Athletics icon Carl Lewis unveiled the new look purple track, which was designed by Italian company Mondo.
It is made of rubber, covers an area of around 17,000 square metres and has been extended from eight to nine lanes.
President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee Tony Estanguet revealed that the idea was to create a more "joyful and festive" tone to the track.
It will feature three colours, two shades of purple (one lighter, closer to lavender and the other darker) and grey on the outside of the track.
Mondo have seen three hundred world records broken since the Italian company produced the tracks since 1972.
And it is hoped that many more will be broken at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Paris 2024 athletics chief Alain Blondel explained: "The big part of the job was to come up with a track that was different from what we had seen, 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 look of the Games includes three colours for all the competition venues: blue, green and purple.
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"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."
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