A Look into the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Track - Why are The Times so Fast?

Jennifer Heiner combines a passion for running with her business skills as retail director for a New Jersey running company. Managing the company's three retail locations, she helps control inventory, hire new employees, and ensure day-to-day operations run as smoothly as possible. Jennifer Heiner also provides coaching services and assists with the five races her company hosts each year.

Outside of work, Ms. Heiner stays active in her local running community. She maintains membership in New York Road Runners as well as USA Track & Field. As part of her activities with these and other organizations, she has participated in and organized group runs, including training events to prepare participants for the New York City Marathon.

Of course, this week's action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, specifically that in track and field, has caught the attention of casual fans and those personally involved in the sport alike, including Ms. Heiner. Its particularly fascinating that the track itself, built for these 2020 games, is actually producing faster times than anticipated due to the materials and construction used. 

According to various news outlets, "One of the team behind the track’s creation, Andrea Vallauri, said: ‘What you are seeing is evolution. Clearly every time there is an Olympic Games we try to improve the formulation of the material, and Tokyo has been no different. ‘We have tried to improve by adding an extra compound. The track is very thin - 14mm. But we have added these rubber granules. How best to describe it: in the lower layer of the track is this hexagonal design that creates these small pockets of air." Tokyo Olympics: Running track is generating up to 2% improvements in performance, says designers | Daily Mail Online

Additionally, Mondo [the track's manufacturer] says on its website that the main objective was to “maximize the speed of athletes and improve their performance.” The top layer is vulcanized rubber to help with elasticity. There are also “air-filled cavities” in the lower layer, which assist with “shock absorption, energy storage and immediate kinetic response.”

More to the point: It helps racers fly down the track. 'Some tracks absorb your motion and your force,' American 400-meter hurdler and world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin said. 'This one regenerates it and gives it back to you. You can definitely feel it.'" The tech behind Tokyo Olympics’ fast track (nypost.com) Sydney McLaughlin, a New Jersey native, broke her own world record on Tuesday night in the 400m Hurdles. 

These 2020 Tokyo Olmypics were definitely fun to watch, and it was impressive to see so many fast times being set and records broken, The Olympics conclude today and tomorrow with the Women's and Men's marathons, being run in Saporro, Japan, away from the rest of the action in Tokyo.