European Athletics Partner Mondo have provided the track surface for another three stadiums close to the French capital where teams will prepare ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Notable among the new facilities is the Stade Municipal Georges-Lefèvre, housed in an almost- idyllic woodland area near the town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris.
The new track – which is home to local club Club Athletique De L’Ouest 78 – was opened in early October by the Mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye Arnaud Péricard and the French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Amélie Oudéa-Castéra with 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships hammer silver medallist Rose Loga and 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships 60m hurdles bronze medallist Aurel Manga, who both hail from the area, also in attendance.
C’est un moment symbolique pour #SaintGermainenLaye :
— Arnaud Péricard (@Arnaud_Pericard) October 1, 2022
➡️ nous avons désormais un stade complet d’athlétisme ;
➡️ Roger Gicquel a été porteur de la flamme olympique en 1967 et fondateur des Foulées de Saint-Germain. Il est une véritable mémoire du sport saint-germanois.
Great Britain’s athletics team is expected to use the Stade Municipal Georges-Lefèvre Stadium and the accompanying sports complex as part of their preparations for Paris 2024.
At last year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Great Britain sent 77 competitors for the athletics events and won two silver and three bronze medals.
The town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye has also been awarded a Terre de Jeux 2024 label, which is given to local areas that promote developed and inclusive participation in sport, at town and regional levels, ahead of Paris 2024.
The Stade Robert-Bobin in Bondoufle, about 28 kilometres north of the centre of Paris, has also been undergoing renovation, whcih includes the installation of a new track, with work having started on 7 June as it has also been designated as a preparation centre ahead of Paris 2024.
Like Stade Municipal Georges-Lefèvre, the Stade Robert-Bobin – named after the French international triple jumper and record holder in his specialist event who later became the President of the French athletics federation – the new track will also be a Mondo product.
The Stade Léo Lagrange in the town of Epinay-sur-Seine just north of Paris itself will also be a training centre for the many athletes competing in the Olympic Games in less than two years town and it also has a Mondo track, which is also used by the local Club Sportif Multisections d'Epinay-Sur-Seine on almost daily basis.
Several indoor arenas in France with Mondo tracks have also been announced as Olympic preparation centres.
Among them is the Stade Couvert Stéphane Diagana in Eaubonne – just five kilometres from Epinay-sur-Seine or roughly 13 minutes at race pace for 2022 European Athlete of the Year Jakob Ingebrigtsen – which has a reputation for being one of the busiest indoor athletics facility in France, and Europe.
As well as being a World Athletics Certified Indoor Facility – one of five in France but the only one in the central Île-de-France region, which encompasses Paris and more than 12 million inhabitants – the Stade Couvert Stéphane Diagana is not only open almost daily for training but also expected to stage more than 20 indoor meetings of all different levels and standards between the start of November this year and the end of February 2023
