One of the highlights of the meeting was the panel discussion that took place in the breath-taking venue Cologne Sky and was brought to more than 240 interested guests by the Swiss company CONICA, one of the global market leaders for sports surfaces.

Andy Kay, former managing editor of BBC Radio, guided through the panel discussion. He was co-moderated by Aleksandra Wizor, also known as Ola, a professional sports content creator and speaker.

The four panelists all had high reputations in their fields of expertise:

• Christian Milz, CEO of European Athletics, Lausanne (Switzerland)
• Steffen Willwacher, Professor of Biomechanics at the University of Offenburg (Germany)
• Tomas Stukas, Head of Development at Active Vilnius (Lithuania), dedicated to improving urban spaces for physical activity
• Kevin Young, Olympic gold medal winner and former world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles (USA). He was the first person to run faster than 47 seconds. His record lasted 29 years.

The biodynamical dimension of a good track

First, Steffen Willwacher explained biomechanics, his field of research. “It is all about how people interact with the environment. With regard to the sport, we analyze how people move. For instance, we look for options to improve the interaction with the running track, how to improve performances and avoid injuries.”

Kevin Young seconded, how important the track for the athlete is. His beginnings as a runner were all on dirt or cinder tracks. Only later he made the acquaintance with synthetic tracks. That was a great experience for him. “But if one looks at the tracks of today, it’s a world of difference again”, he stated.

Andy Kay also wanted to know, what tracks Kevin Young prefers for his style of hurdling. “Stiffer tracks are better; athletes don’t like tracks that are too soft. For hurdling, especially the landing event on the track is key.”

Another perspective was presented by Tomas Stukas who takes care of sports urban spaces for children and adults in public areas of Vilnius. For him, e.g. outdoor playgrounds help to leverage a town quarter. “These places are good for exercising and gathering in the neighborhood. Furthermore, we install good surfaces so that, from childhood age on, exercising in a good environment makes youngsters want to do more sports and prevents injuries. Our facilities can be the cradle for top athletes in the future.”

Next, Andy Kay wanted to know from Christian Milz how EA normally works National Governing Bodies or Local Organizing Committees and what support an organization like EA can give to potential owners who want to build a new facility. Christian Milz emphasized that EA first and foremost needs information about new projects. “Then the technical side is very important. That also applies to the tracks, of course. We also look closely at the heritage of the track manufacturers, because we want the best conditions for the athletes. Last but not least, the long-term objective of projects is another important criterion for us. We don’t want a one-off event that has no lasting perspective. We can make good recommendations for the development of projects. In the end, we issue certifications for projects.”

Same track for all track & field disciplines not recommendable

Then, Steffen Willwacher was asked about the further possibilities of his research field. He said that one part of the research is focusing on force reduction of tracks versus a concrete surface. His vision is to expand the scope of research by extending the research of the vertical forces by that of the horizontal ones. The centrifugal forces that occur when running in a curve and interact with the others are also worth taking a closer look at.

“It must also be taken into account that runners, long jumpers, high jumpers, javelin throwers, or hammer throwers have very different requirements for the track surface”, Steffen Willwacher added. In this context, he mentioned that the German javelin thrower fell during his competition at the Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.

As a former world-class athlete, Kevin Young fully supported this view, as running, jumping, or throwing generate different moves with various impacts on the track surface. He added that further conditions such as hot and cold, wet or dry, the age of the track and its general condition, or even dust or dirt can influence the quality of a track very much.

The takeaway from this point in the discussion was that there is still a lot of room for further research in the area of biomechanics in relation to the tracks used. Another interesting point was brought into the discussion by Christian Milz when the discussion turned to indoor sports events. He reported that World Athletics (WA) intends to introduce the new term ‘short track’. This will replace the actual term “indoor” to describe events and performances that take place on a 200m track, which is traditionally held indoors. Performances held on outdoor or temporary 200m tracks could thus be recognized as official results for the purposes of records and rankings.

How far away is the super track?

Finally, Steffen Willwacher proposes to make track and field sport more interesting to the TV audience: “How about integrating sensors into the tracks that provide more information that are of interest for the TV viewers.” This led Andy Kay to the very final question of the panel: “How far are we away from the super track? Steffen Willwacher responded: “We are quite well there. Materials also get better and better.” Christian Milz added he would like to have 300 m tracks, e.g. in big football stadiums. And Steffen Willwacher’s concluded: “The surfaces of the future in a stadium should be adapted to the track and field discipline that is executed on it.”

This CONICA panel was highly fascinating because it presented a wide array of aspects in a generally understandable way. The experts on the panel proved to be very competent in their respective fields and were thus able to make different statements, which, however, complemented each other well.