The Paris 2024 Olympic Games were a historic moment for France, bringing together over 206 nations and around 10,500 athletes competing for gold medals across 45 Olympic disciplines held at 39 exceptional competition venues. This prestigious event, followed by more than 10 million spectators and billions of viewers worldwide, transformed Paris into a global hub of sporting celebration.
In this context of excellence, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organising Committee (COJOP 2024) called upon the expertise of LABOSPORT France to ensure the quality and safety of the playing surfaces, thereby contributing to the optimisation of athletic performance and spectator satisfaction.
Excellence in service of major sports venues
Starting in 2022, LABOSPORT was fully engaged in preparing several iconic sites, ensuring that each venue provided optimal conditions for competitions. As a key player in the compliance of sports surfaces, we brought our expertise to a variety of fields.
At the Yves du Manoir Stadium in Colombes, our involvement began in June 2023 with the compliance monitoring of three synthetic turf hockey pitches. Our mission was to provide rigorous technical support in accordance with the French construction standards for large synthetic turf pitches (NF P90-112) and the requirements of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Thanks to our accredited technicians, we ensured that each pitch met federal standards, providing a safe and high-performance environment for the athletes.
Simultaneously, LABOSPORT also conducted audits and inspections on thirteen natural grass training pitches across France, intended for football and rugby tournaments. These audits ensured that the playing conditions on these pitches were similar to those at the competition sites, in compliance with FIFA, FFF, and World Rugby standards.
The importance of indoor surfaces
Our expertise is not limited to outdoor pitches. At Arena Paris Sud, located in the Parc des Expositions, we supervised the inspection of two surfaces designated for weightlifting, table tennis, handball, and volleyball events. These inspections ensured ideal conditions for competitions, strictly adhering to the corresponding international standards.
Moreover, at Arena Bercy, we performed vertical basketball rebound tests in accordance with the EN 12235 standard, as well as surface flatness checks according to the EN 13036-7 standard. These inspections guaranteed that each match was played under the best possible conditions.
Finally, at the Adidas Arena in Porte de la Chapelle, our involvement included controlling the flatness of concrete slabs for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events, ensuring perfect compliance of the surfaces.
Athletics at the heart of our expertise
At the Stade de France, on the exceptional purple athletics track, our team first monitored the implementation of the asphalt layers on which the track was laid. Verifying this material is essential before the track is installed. LABOSPORT France has world-renowned experience in monitoring the installation of hot-mix asphalt. LABOSPORT then carried out laboratory and on-site tests according to the standards of the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics: WA) and the NF P90-100 standard to deliver a track that was perfectly compliant and high-performing. The track was thus classified for this Category I competition.
A total commitment to successful Olympic Games
These Paris 2024 Olympic Games were also made possible by the French excellence in sports pitch construction. LABOSPORT’s involvement in the preparation of these pitches was largely based on French and European normative references developed and published by the French standardisation commission AFNOR/P90G (Sports Halls – Substrates for sports flooring). These references require the expertise of the LABOSPORT group’s teams. Benoit BOSSUET, Technical Manager at LABOSPORT France, is the President of the AFNOR P90G commission, a mirror committee that ensures follow-up and participation in the work of the Technical Committee TC-217 of the European Committee for Standardisation for sports surfaces (CEN/TC 217) “Sports Floors,” chaired by Roberto ARMENI, General Manager of LABOSPORT Italia.
By applying this knowledge of the standards (International and federal) in service of COJOP 2024, we contributed to creating ideal training and competition conditions for the athletes, allowing them to fully focus on their performances.
The beauty and success of these Olympic Games were recognised by the global audience, and LABOSPORT is proud to have played a key role in this achievement, demonstrating our commitment and passion for sporting excellence.
