Tartan Track is a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

ed all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane is produced from ...

used for

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

competitions, manufactured by 3M. It lets athletes compete in bad weather without serious performance loss and improves their results over other surfaces. It also provides a more consistent surface for competition even under optimum weather. Such tracks have become the standard for most elite competitions. Because the "Tartan" brand name was the first and was widely successful in its time, the name Tartan has been used as a

genericized trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products ...

for description of an all-weather

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

History

The 1968 Summer Olympics at

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

was the first

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

to use the Tartan track surface in athletics. Olympic shot put champion

Bill Nieder William Henry Nieder (August 10, 1933 – October 7, 2022) was an American athlete who mainly competed in the shot put. Nieder was born in Hempstead, New York, and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas.Don Bowden Donald Paul Bowden (born August 8, 1936) is an American middle-distance runner. He competed in the 1500 m at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and in 1957 became the first American to run a mile within four minutes. At the 1956 Olympics, he failed to r ...

were instrumental in developing the product and selling it for use in the 1968 Olympics. American track and field coach

Bert Bonanno Bert Salvatore Bonanno is a retired American track and field coach and sports administrator who has produced numerous Olympic champions and world-record holders. Biography Bonanno began his coaching career in the 1950s at San Jose State Colleg ...

, who had been recruited by the Mexican Olympic Committee to help prepare their athletes, worked as a liaison between the Mexican officials and manufacturer 3M in 1968. “It had been red cinder at the Olympic Games up until then. 3M hired Jesse Owens to assist them to convince the Mexican Olympic Committee to put that track in,” Bonanno said. A Tartan track was constructed for the men's U.S. Olympic Trials at Echo Summit,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, west of South Lake Tahoe. Just off U.S. Route 50, it was built in the summer of 1968 in the parking lot of Nebelhorn ski area, at an elevation of . The original trade name "Tartan" came from 3M, manufacturers of Scotch Tape and continuing the Scotch name tradition. 3M's first generation artificial turf of the late 1960s and early 1970s was branded as "Tartan Turf." Those original tracks required mercury as a catalyst, later found to be an environmental hazard. An independent company has perfected the process without mercury. There are now numerous competitors in the "all-weather track" industry. In fact, the "Tartan" tracks of the late 1960s were the second generation of all-weather track surfacing. Before that, there were several tracks constructed of rubber (usually tire shavings) and asphalt. The first recorded use of a Tartan Track surface in competition in England was a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

at the Norman Green Sports Centre in Solihull, September 16, 1967, though there were earlier uses in the United States.

References

External links

TartanTrack.com
{{3M Sport of athletics terminology 3M brands

History

See also

References

External links