Rekortan M and Polytan SMART at Tooting Bec Athletics Track

Optimal Preparation for the 2024 Olympics

Just a few miles from Wimbledon lies Tooting Bec, a district in South London. However, sports are not only a priority in the tennis mecca, as Tooting Bec Lido is home to one of the oldest outdoor swimming pools in the United Kingdom, which remains the largest to date. Its location is the expansive Tooting Commons park, which also houses the Tooting Bec Athletics Track & Gym, offering members an extensive range of fitness facilities. The associated pavilion provides a fully equipped gym, and the athletics facility enables outdoor sports for athletes. The facility includes an eight-lane running track, utilized by individual athletes, schools, and clubs. A spectator stand accommodates over 400 visitors, and the floodlight system ensures year-round usability of the facility.

The eight-lane running track and its three integrated sprint lanes were refurbished in summer 2022 with our synthetic surface Rekortan M in brick red. This is Polytan’s all-rounder for competitive and training facilities in athletics. The poured coating surface is mainly applied on running and approach tracks. Since Rekortan M meets stringent emission limits for indoor use, it is suitable not only for outdoor athletics facilities but also for indoor athletics halls.

Alongside the new surface, the timing system Polytan SMART was integrated – our sophisticated method for measuring and documenting training performance. The Polytan SMART system at Tooting Bec comprises 33 integrated timing gates on the running track and sprint track, a wireless sensor weighing only 15 g, and the proven diagnostic software from our partner Humotion, or alternatively, a personal smartphone. With this performance diagnostics system, the sensor can automatically conduct mobility tests, jump tests, endurance evaluations like the Cooper Test, tapping tests, and sprint tests. It is perfectly suited for performance diagnostics, whether for individual athletes or whole teams, in athletics or team sports.

For professional athletes and ambitious runners, the detailed documentation of training content and performance is simply ideal. Polytan SMART is therefore the perfect solution, also utilized by the athletes of the “Herne Hill Harriers,” an amateur athletics club based in Tooting Bec.

This is also the athletic home of Katie Snowden, 2023 British champion in the 1500-meter event and one of our brand ambassadors. At Tooting Bec Athletics Track, she is preparing for the Olympic Games in Paris. Polytan SMART enables her precise timing and performance diagnostics, which not only include exact time measurement but also other crucial running parameters like step count, step frequency, and stride length. The results help Katie Snowden to tailor her training to ultimately optimize her performance, aiming to be at the forefront at the Olympics in Paris. We at Polytan are proud to be part of her journey.