Olympic Dreams and Green Goals: The road to Paris 2024 on ground-breaking sustainable turf
Kicking off a sports-packed 2024, an exhilarating global sporting event unfolded over four weeks in January in three cities.
Battling it out for the right to play in Paris
Thirty-two teams, evenly divided between men and women, engaged in a fierce competition for the prestigious opportunity to play hockey at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The stakes were high as teams from around the globe showcased their talent and determination in Muscat (Oman) and Valencia (Spain) for the men's competition, and Ranchi (India) and Valencia for the women's contests. With only 12 spots each available for men’s and women’s teams, national pride and passion was firmly on the line.
The winning teams
The selection battles were hard-fought, with the top three teams securing their spots for the Olympics. The women's qualifiers are the formidable squads from Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Spain, and the United States, while the men's qualifiers are Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, and Spain.
Following the qualification events, the teams for Paris 2024 are as follows:
Women’s Pool A: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Japan, China, France
Women’s Pool B: Australia, Argentina, Great Britain, Spain, USA, South Africa
Men’s Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France, South Africa
Men’s Pool B: Belgium, India, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Ireland
The journey to the Paris Olympic Games is a testament to the hard work, dedication and grit of all athletes involved. We also extend our sympathies to the teams that played so hard but narrowly missed out. The quality of hockey globally is so strong that unfortunately some very good players and teams miss out.
New water-reducing dry turf technology
The competition not only highlighted the athletes' remarkable skills and generous sportsmanship (the New Zealand players commiserating with the Pakistan players showed the wonderful values of hockey) but also shone a spotlight on a pioneering innovation in sports technology: Poligras Paris GT zero turf.
This game-changing surface was used in Muscat, setting a new standard for sustainability in sports.
Manufactured from 80% sugarcane and powered by green energy, Paris GT zero is the world’s first carbon-neutral hockey turf.
What makes Poligras Paris GT zero even more remarkable is its ability to be played either wet or dry. The turf features ‘Turf Glide’ which reduces friction and abrasion, this means the turf requires less water to play at an Olympic quality and allows the turf to meet the FIH Innovation standards for dry hockey.
For the Olympic Qualifiers, the turf was lightly irrigated, delivering an Olympic-quality surface that gave the world’s best players a taste of what to expect from the field of play at the Paris Olympic Games.
The following week, thanks to its remarkable versatility, the turf was used as a dry turf for the first-ever Hockey5s World Cup.
Watch the action and the player feedback about event here.
Due to Poligras Paris GT zero’s unique crossover play wet / play dry performance, clubs and facilities can effectively control their water usage and add only what is required based on the specific demands of their competition and training needs. The turf has been a hit worldwide and has been installed in over 25 locations in 11 countries.
Paris will be the 8th Olympics played on Poligras, and being chosen as the surface for Paris is a testament to Poligras’ commitment towards environmental sustainability and innovation.
A summer of sizzling and sustainable sport
Poligras’ Paris GT zero turf not only sets the stage for a sustainable Olympic competition but also serves as an inspiration for future sports infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of sustainability in sports.
The Paris Olympics promises to be a spectacular showcase of talent, innovation and commitment to the planet, with the hockey competition taking place from Saturday 27 July 2024 to Friday 9 August 2024.
Poligras is available globally through Polytan in EMEA, Asia Pacific and Australasia, and AstroTurf in North and South America as well as our global installer network.
Image credit: worldsportpics.com