Ideal conditions on the new surface

Spike shoes and parquet flooring do not go well together: athletes have little grip, and the spikes scratch the floor. For this reason, the Lausitz Arena is fitted with a special surface every year for the Jump-Meeting. But what impact does this have on the athletes’ jumping performance?

Marc Osenberg, athletes’ manager and sporting director of the ISTAF Indoor in Düsseldorf, is also responsible for recruiting the athletes for the Cottbus Springer Meeting. As a former pole vaulter, he knows how important the condition of the surface is: “Thanks to the spring effect of the parquet floor, the Lausitz Arena already has an excellent base. We optimized this with the best surface currently available—to create optimal conditions for the athletes.”

After 20 Springer Meetings, the old surface had completely lost its elasticity. To ensure the continuation of the event, the City of Cottbus covered the costs for a new sports surface from the company MONDO.

According to the Italian company’s own website, more than 260 world records have been set on MONDO surfaces. Stadiums for the Olympic Games and World Championships have been equipped with MONDO surfaces for decades. Their special honeycomb-like structure creates a minimal trampoline effect: the surface returns the energy from each foot strike, enabling better performance. “Sometimes it takes a bit of time to get used to the surface,” says Marc Osenberg. In competition, however, there isn’t always time for that. High jumper Imke Onnen reported after the previous Jump-Meeting that “the sprung floor felt like it was working against me.” Pole vaulters, on the other hand, rated the surface very highly and had no problems with it. It will be exciting to see how the athletes make use of the surface at the next Jump-Meeting.