Athens, Greece—As the world watched the athletes compete in the 2004 Summer Olympics what they did not realize is that many of the Games’ biggest events and behind the scenes functions were taking place on floors produced by some of the industry’s largest manufacturers. One of the most active participants in this year’s Olympics was Tarkett’s commercial division which supplied approximately a half million square feet of its specialty linoleum to a variety of installations. “We were honored to have our products specified for such an important installation,” said Gilles de Beaumont, president of Tarkett Commercial in North America. “Being selected for what is arguably the world’s most high profile event reinforces the fact Tarkett manufactures the highest quality, most effective flooring products available today.”

Tarkett Commercial flooring could be seen at locations such as where basketball, volleyball, beach volleyball, softball, handball, boxing, equestrian, weightlifting, fencing, field hockey, tennis and shooting took place as well as areas within the Olympic Village including the doping control building, the training building, the Naval, Army and Police academies and even the athletes’ bedrooms. Rolando Canacor, director of Tarkett’s Greek office, noted that even though construction on the facilities began slowly, the pace of the work dramatically increased as time progressed to ensure the new structures would be completed in time for the opening ceremonies. He said the Games chose to work with Tarkett for two main reasons—products and professionalism.

“Tarkett flooring products were selected because of their quality, aesthetics and ability to accommodate the needs of the various facilities. And, the company’s high level of professionalism and ability to cope with extreme situations also made Tarkett an obvious choice.” In terms of specific products and their areas of installation, some of the more high profile ones included 226,800 square feet of Tarkett Specialty’s Linosom Linoleum in the Veneto design in the Friendship and Peace Stadium with the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Sports Complex, which is where the volleyball and basketball competitions were held; 194,400 square feet of Veneto and Somplan were used within the Olympic Stadium and tennis areas, and 32,400 square feet of Veneto in the Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hall. In addition, both Beneto and Somplan were specified for the Peristeri Boxing Palace, and Veneto was used in the Olympic Press Center and in the form of 20-in. tiles for the Shooting Ground Palace.

Another flooring company that received a great deal of attention at the Games was Armstrong World Industries. Even though it did not have as many products installed as Tarkett, its DD GrassMaster received some of the most attention as it was used in the Panthessaliko Stadium in Volos, Greece, which hosted many of the men’s and women’s soccer matches. “The Olympic Games are special,” said Randall Gablehouse, general manager of commercial sales for Armstrong Flooring Products, “and Armstrong was extremely proud and excited to see GrassMaster get such a high profile workout.” GrassMaster is a synthetically reinforced natural grass field developed and installed by Armstrong subsidiary Desso/Æ DLW Sports Systems which is based in Belgium.

Put simply, the product is a combination of real grasses reinforced with environmentally friendly polypropylene fibers sewn into the sod every three-quarters of an inch. The fibers reach seven inches into the sod and a half-inch above it. So, as the roots of the grass grow, they intertwine with the artificial fibers. This anchors the grass roots which provide a stable grass surface. The sand-based stabilization product was first developed in the 1980s in the Netherlands and has been installed in playing surfaces since 1992. GrassMaster itself has been installed in more than 200 fields worldwide, including a number of professional football teams in the U.S., such as the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos.

Panthessaliko Stadium was one of five venues used for the Olympic soccer matches and played host to eight of them over a 10-day period, including a couple of days when two games were played, and GrassMaster was approved by the major federations overseeing the sport. Gablehouse said the product was chosen to afford the natural grass surface the time to recover between games, especially on the days when two matches were played. “As these games are always high profile, the Olympic organization couldn’t risk being forced to cancel a game due to poor pitch conditions. “The good word about GrassMaster continues to spread,” he noted, “and now a worldwide audience got to see how well it holds up to Olympic competition.”