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The Paris Olympics 2024 will feature plenty of thrilling action, but a surprise that fans might not have expected is the brand-new purple track for the athletics events.
Olympic track and field events usually feature a typical red-brown track that has long since been associated with the sport. The singular exception to the rule came at the Rio 2016 Games, where the color of the track was blue.
While we were back to the red-brown color in Tokyo, it was announced early in February this year that fans would get treated to a purple delight at the Olympics. Most recently, the official Instagram account of the Games shared some pictures of the new purple track being laid at the Stage de France, writing,
Trending
“Looks like we're on track for Paris 2024. The Olympic track is being laid at Paris’s Stade de France. Swipe to see what it will look like.”
The pictures showed construction workers laying the track, and even a glimpse of what it is expected to look like once the design is complete.
In the comments section of the post, fans were left divided over the color of the track. One commentator chimed in to say that the Olympics would look odd with the color.
“Purple.. Wtf. Why can't we have Classic red. The Olympics just look odd with these random colors.”
Another fan was of a different opinion, mentioning that they thought the track was ‘badass’.
“As someone who actually runs track: this is badass and looks cool. I wanna run on it so bad 😭"
A couple of other fans were united in their dislike of the new track.
“Miss the classic color track,” one wrote.
“Athletes are used to red/ maybe blue when they train. They will find this so different,” another added.
However, a few fans found the color a breath of fresh air.
“I dunno why everybody is so pressed about the purple. I think it looks nice 💜,” a commenter opined.
“PURPLE AESTHETIC TRACK STADIUM OH MY GOD,” another netizen expressed their excitement.
Paris Olympics 2024: Track and field dates and where to watch
Meanwhile, athletes will get down to action at the Paris Olympics' purple track between August 1 to August 11. The athletics events will kick off with the men's and women's 20km race walk events, before drawing to a conclusion with the women's marathon.
For fans in America, a live stream of all the happenings at the Stade de France will be available on NBC's Peacock Network. A subscription to the channel starts at $5.99 a month, or $59.99 a year.
