MONDO

This fall, the New Balance Track & Field Center at the famous 168th Street Armory Youth Center is getting a new Mondo Super X Performance surface on its Mondo portable banked track.

A 60,000 square-foot arena with an Olympic-caliber track, the New Balance Track & Field Center boasts
of one of the world's fastest—and busiest—tracks with more than 125 track meets held yearly.
Located in the heart of bustling Washington Heights, the Armory has become a mecca for track and field
athletes from around the world while serving the students from all five boroughs of New York City. More
than 400,000 athletes of all ages participate and visit the facility each year.
Mondo tracks have been part of the Armory since the mid-1990s, and the Mondo 200-meter, portable
banked track was installed a few years later. In addition to the Armory track, the Mondo Super X
Performance surface covers the venue’s infield, a separate jogging track, floors outside of the track
perimeter and the entire expanse of the National Track & Field Hall of Fame. The track resurfacing is
scheduled to begin in September and be completed by October.
“Without Mondo we wouldn't be where we are,” said Norbert Sander, president of the Armory Foundation. “Mondo has played a very important role as a professional, understanding company in this achievement. We look forward to working with them again.”

The tie was ended in the fifth and deciding playoff game of the Italian Men's Volleyball Championship. After the fourth set the winner was Itas Diatec Trento, who in front of the home crowd passed the Copra Elior Piacenza with these scores: 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-12. For Trento this is the third championship, and third season title after those in the Italian Cup and the Club World Cup. All the matches of the playoff games were played on the Mondoflex Performance court.

Approaching the starting date of the fourteenth edition of the World Championships in Athletics, which will be held in Moscow from Saturday, August 10th to Sunday, August 18th, 2013. The biennial IAAF World Championships is the largest sporting event after the Olympic Games and the World Cup of soccer, as evidenced by the number of participating athletes and the number of viewers who follow the event all over the world. The 2011 edition in Daegu recorded an audience of more than five billion people. The Luzhniki Stadium will host many of the stars of London 2012: Usain Bolt, Allyson Felix, David Rudisha, Jessica Ennis to name a few. As in London, Mondo will once again be a great star, having provided the main track in Mondotrack 13 mm, all the equipment for athletics and the two training tracks in Mondo Super X Performance 13 mm, with the respective equipment. 

The great performance of Copra Elior Piacenza  continues in the home games during the playoffs of the Italian Men's Volleyball Championship. The team of Emilia, dominated Game 4 of the championship final, defeating Itas Diatec Trento 3-0, with these partial: 25-22, 25-19 and 25-20. Determining the effectiveness of Piacenza and the outstanding performance against Hristo Zlatanov. The fifth and decisive match for the award of the title will be held in Trento Sunday, May 12th. All final games will be played on the Mondoflex Performance court.

It was played in Trento, an indoor stadium completely exhausted, Game 3 of the final for the title of Champions of Italy in the 2013 men's volleyball, game dominated by Itas Diatec Trento, which has prevailed 3-0 on Copra Elior Piacenza with these partial: 25-12, 25-18, 25-19. The success of Trento was clear, immediately putting Piacenza in crisis, which, unlike Game 2, has failed to make the most of their rosters. Only in the first part of the third set was there balance on the court. The main star of the game was Osmany Juantorena, spiker of Trento. Game 4 Piacenza and Trento will be played on Sunday, May 5th, in case of victory, could be the day of the third title. All final games will be played on the Mondoflex Performance court.

Overcoming the semi-finals of the champions FC Barcelona in the final and the favorites the Russian MFK Dinamo, Kairat Almaty triumphed in the most important European event of futsal. In the final, after the first half ended at 1-1, the Kazakhs took off in the second half of the game, to make it 4-1. Needless has been the comeback of the Russian team with two goals in the final, has only managed to touch the tie make the score 4-3. It is a historic sporting achievement, as no training Kazakh had never managed to win a UEFA competition. The match for third place was won by FC Barcelona, who has passed for the hosts 4-1 of Iberia Star Tbilisi. The UEFA Futsal Cup Finals were played on portable Mondo flooring for futsal.

The second game of the series was held in Piacenza where the title of Champions of Italy, 2013 will be awarded, and Copra Elior Piacenza relied on the home factor, defeating the Itas Diatec Trento 3-1, with these scores: 17-25, 25-22, 25-16, 32-30. After a first set dominated by Trento, with percentages of attack and positive receptions close to 60%, Piacenza managed to overturn the results in the second set, winning by 25-22, after being down 15-18. In the third set, the home team has dominated, thanks to the effectiveness of their play. In the fourth and final set, the service is still to be the leader of Piacenza, Emilia allowed the team to recover from the initial disadvantage, winning the set 32-30, leading the series 1-1. The third game of the final will be played in Trento Wednesday, May 1st. All final games will be played on the Mondoflex Performance court

 It was played in Trento before the finals for the award of the title of Italian champion in men's volleyball, which saw the world champions ITAS Diatec Trento exceed Copra Elior Piacenza 3-1, with these partial: 20 -25, 25-11, 25-19 and 25-20. The first set, was won by Piacenza due to the excellent service and attack by Alessandro Fei, the home team, which has not lost the Emilian for four years, he began to exploit its strengths (wall and power of attack) deservedly winning three sets in a row. The best player of the match Stokr, striker of Trento, was chosen. All final matches are played on the Mondoflex Performance court. The next meeting is scheduled to end in Piacenza Sunday, April 28th.

A few months after the big Final which awarded the 2011/2012 Champion in Italian volleyball, the Forum of Assago was back for a green, white and challenge. Therefore, they will again welcome on the Mondo tricolor Mondoflex court the players of the four finalist teams of the Del Monte Italian Cup Serie A1 Final Four, and the two A2 teams that will compete in the Del Monte Italian Cup Serie A2. Saturday, December 29, the semi-finals will be played between the A1 teams, while on December 30th, the finals will be played and the titles will be awarded. In addition to the court, Mondo will provide its expertise and technical support for the entire duration of the competition. Mondo technicians will take care of the logistics, installation, and the perfect positioning, and provide assistance for any need that may occur during the competition. They will also do the dismantling of the court at the end of the event.

Today the Quarter Finals of the Del Monte Cup Italy Serie A1 matches are held. The rules state that the first eight teams qualified at the end of the first round of the regular season will participate in the Quarter Finals, that will be played at the home of the team with the better ranking.  The four winning teams will play the Del Monte Italian Cup Final Four 2012/2013, to be held at the Assago Forum Saturday, December 29th (semi-finals) and Sunday, December 30th (finale).
Today the semi-finals of the Italian Cup A2 will also be held. Only the first four teams of Serie A2 at the end of the first round will play . Sunday, December 30th, at the Assago Forum, the final of the Del Monte Cup Italy A2 will also be held. The matches will be played at the Assago Forum on the Mondo tricolor court made in the Mondoflex Performance surface.

American Sports Builders Association (ASBA), of which Mondo is a member, is the national organization for builders, designers and suppliers of materials for athletic facilities. Awards are presented each year to facilities built by ASBA members that best exemplify construction excellence. The facilities are Louisiana State University’s(LSU) Bernie Moore Track Stadium, JDL Fast Track and the Virginia G. Piper Sports and Fitness Center for Persons with Disabilities.
 Louisiana State University’s (LSU)  Bernie Moore Track Stadium and JDL Fast Track were named Outdoor Track Facility of the Year and Indoor Track Facility of the Year, respectively—the highest honors in their award categories.
In addition, the LSU venue, located on the university’s Baton Rouge campus, received the award for Outdoor Running Surface in the Distinguished Track Facilities category. JDL Fast Track, Winston-Salem, N.C., was named the winner for Indoor Track Facility in the same category. In both stadiums the Mondotrack surface was installed, the same surface used for 2012 London Olympic Games.
Virginia G. Piper Sports and Fitness Center for Persons with Disabilities, Phoenix, was honored in the Distinguished Indoor Multi-Purpose Field House category. Mondo rubber flooring is used throughout the facility: Advance in the gymnasium; Bollo Extra on wheelchair ramps and stairs; Mondotrack for the 1/10 mile track;  Natura in the foyer, common areas and trainers' area; Sportflex in the exercise equipment area; and Sport Impact in the weight room.
 

 As per the predictions, the seventh edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup ended with the final played between the two best teams in the world, Brazil and Spain. At Bangkok Futsal Arena, where the Mondo Fast Break System 2 surface is installed, the two teams met in a game very spectacular and balanced, that only in overtime saw the South Americans prevail with the result of 3-2. The fifth world title in Brazil was thanks to a network of Neto (voted best player of the tournament), a few seconds after the end of the match. Spain, which in 2008 had lost the final on penalties always against Brazil, has proven to be the only team to be able to counter the domino of South America, which this year won all seven matches. A very good result for Italy, which once again was able to get on the podium (after the second in 2004 and third in 2008) defeated in the match for third place by Colombia. Particularly pleased with the player Stefano Mammarella, who was awarded the prize for best goalkeeper of the tournament. The big surprise was Colombia, which debut in the competition came in fourth.

 Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix were awarded athletes of the year at the annual World Athletics Gala organized by the IAAF. For the Jamaican sprinter it was the fourth success in this important competition outside of the track, while for the American athlete was the first time. Both received a trophy and a $ 100,000 prize during the ceremony that was held at the MNAC Museum of Barcelona. Atop the balance on their side, were the phenomenal achievements of the athletes at the London Olympics: Usain Bolt defended the titles won in the 100m and 200m in Beijing in 2008, creating the best times of the year in both disciplines, and led the Jamaican 4x100m relay team to win Olympic gold with the incredible time, world record of 36.84, Allyson Felix won the gold medal in the 200m and has contributed to the success of the 4x100m relay and 4x400m American, becoming the first woman since 1988 to win three gold medals in a single Olympics.

 This year, the annual World Athletics Gala of the International Athletics Foundation, which is usually held in Monaco, will be held in Barcelona, as the final act of the celebration for the 100 years of the IAAF. On Friday, November 23rd, a Centenary Banquet will be hosted by Drassanes Museum, while the Centenary Gala Show will be held Saturday, November 24 in the magnificent National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC), where a tribute will be made to the history of athletics. More than 120 star athletes will participate in the event, including Olympic champions from London and some true legends of the sport: Said Aouita, Dick Fosbury, Edwin Moses, Oscar Pistorius, Mike Powell, Paula Radcliffe, Javier Sotomayor and many others. Together with the athletes will be more than 600 members of the IAAF and other major international sports federations. During the same time, Barcelona will host the 2012 Athletes of the Year Award Ceremony, an event that honors the best athletes of the year. The names in the running for the prestigious award among the men include: Usain Bolt, Aris Merritt and David Rudisha; Valerie Adams, Jessica Ennis and Allyson Felix among the women. The ceremonies will conclude with a welcome to the first 24 members of the new IAAF Hall of Fame.

From November 14 to 15, Mondo will participate at Greenbuild (booth #829S), the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. During this trade show, exhibitors will present the most innovative products and services in the industry, and visitors will have the opportunity to listen to experts and professionals in sustainable construction, and to visit the "green" buildings of the host city. Launched in 2002, Greenbuild brings together every year more than 1,000 exhibitors and over 30,000 visitors.

The three-day event which allows you to obtain authoritative advice from experts in design, architecture and construction of healthcare settings. The 2012 event promises to be even bigger than before, with over 4,100 industry professionals ready to present new products and services.

From November 1st to 18th, the seventh edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup will take place in Thailand. There are twenty-four participating teams from all over the world, divided into six groups of four teams. The favorites for the ultimate success are the two teams that have won in the past editions: Brazil (4-time champion) and Spain (2-time champion). Mondo will be present at the event, having provided Fast Break 2 System, the same flooring used in London during the Olympics, for the Bangkok Futsal Arena that will host the final competition of the tournament. The excellent relationship between Mondo and the World Cup continues. For years now they have been giving the Italian company the opportunity to supply the surfaces for Futsal Championships. They like Mondo for both the quality of its materials and its ability to handle major international events.

Saturday, October 27th, in Venice, the SBS Alumni Event, titled "Conversations on Tomorrow." is scheduled on board the ship MSC Divina. It is a talk about the current and future scenarios of sport where were invited Andrea Benetton (Executive VP of Green Sport) and Gianni Petrucci (President of CONI) and, as speakers, Mario De Vivo (Commercial Director of Inter Milan), Cristiano Habetswallner (Head of Sponsorship of Telecom Italy), Leonardo Massa (Italy Country Manager market of MSC) and Luca Valotta (Chairman of Virgin Active Italy). The moderator of the debate will be the journalist Lorenzo Dallari. This year is a special edition, as it is the first to be held after getting his SBS (Sport Business Strategies) Master obtained in May 2012, recognition he got after post-graduate product training at Ca 'Foscari Challenge School. Mondo is a partner of the event since they collaborated with Verde Sport on some projects within their sports park division, The Ghirada, which is home of the Master. In addition, he worked on the project of reporting interesting case studies to be provided in the classrooms.

With the installation of the track surface and the construction of the locker rooms, the athletics center can be considered successfully completed.

In the new facility, the opening day, the 23rd Memorial Todaro will be held along with the fifth round of the Trophy "Luigi Modena", organized by the Libertas Tolmezzo from athletics and Udinese Malignani with the support dell'assessorato Sport of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the City of Tolmezzo.

It also held out an invitational competition for the five thousand meters where some athletes from Kenya, Tunisia and Morrocco have participated. The committee that will handle the event consists of Venanzio Ortis, European champion in the 500m in Prague, Francesco Martini, Councillor for Sports of the town of Tolmezzo, Stefano Secco Vice-President of the Provincial Center Libertas Udine, Manlio Savorgnan, Athletic Malignani’s President, Franco Cimenti and Angela Longo of Libertas Tolmezzo.

This event was enhanced by the reconstruction works on the track and sport platforms of the facility, completed this summer with truly innovative materials and funded by a € 650,000 grant given to the City by the Mountain Community of Carnia. The city councilor for sport, Francesco Martini is considered very pleased to have brought Tolmezzo two events of particular depth and interest.

Mondo has been once again the protagonist with Mondotrack, the official track surface of London 2012, an innovative material which last year attracted numerous accolades from athletes and coaches for its performance and comfort. This year in London many new and numerous world records were set.
 

From Saturday, October 13 to Sunday, November 25, 2012, the Olympic Sport Museum Joan Antoni Samaranch Barcelona hosts the Historical Exposition for the centenary of the IAAF. Installed on a track specially made by Mondo for the occasion, there are eight displays called "lanes" tracing the history of the IAAF and athletics, with text, photos and video: lane 1 is devoted to the history of the Association and of its founders, lane 2 recalls the greatest athletes in the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Series, lane 3 is the development of the IAAF competition program, lane 4 recalls the most important results obtained in athletics in every continent; lane 5 recounts the struggle for parity in female and male athletics; lane 6 describes the progress made over the years on tracks, clothing and sports equipment; lane 7 is dedicated to the greatest moments and the greatest track and field athletes of the last 100 years; and lane 8 is meant to be a glimpse into the future, the development of athletics in the next 100 years. The exhibition displays are connected by numerous glass cases containing more than 300 souvenirs provided by athletes, museums and private collections around the world. They range from coins and vases dating from 256 BC up to race numbers and clothing of gold medal athletes at London 2012. There are also examples of equipment for athletics, old and new, most important are those provided by Mondo which is a Sponsor Partner of the IAAF.

The Athletics program of the London 2012 Paralympic Games ended with the last major achievements in the Olympic Stadium, a worthy conclusion to an edition of the Games full of emotions and records. The last days of competition have given exciting moments, like the first individual gold medal for Oscar Pistorius, in the 400m T44 final dominated by the South African athlete, which has set a new Paralympic record running in 46 "68. The Cuban Yunidis Castillo, winning the 400m T46, with the new world record of 55 "72, led to three gold medals won in London 2012. Amazing achievements also reached in the last days of the Paralympics by American Tatyana McFadden, gold in the 1,500 m T54, Chinese Zhiming Wang, gold in the javelin throw F40, and Russia's Elena Ivanova, with the victory in the 100m T36. The last race was the athletics marathon in category T54 that saw Britain's David Weir achieved the extraordinary goal he had set for himself before the Games of winning four gold medals. The 33 year-old Weir, had won before the marathon the Paralympic title in the 800m, 5000m and 1500m. An excellent result equaled by the American Raymond Martin, 18-year-old, winner of the 200m, 100m, 400m and 800m T52 in the London Paralympic Games.

The finals of the wheelchair basketball team has seen a return on the highest step of the podium and another win his first title Paralympics. In the men's tournament, Canada, driven by Patrick Anderson, author of 34 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, passed 64-58 for Australia, after a hard fought game. The Canadian players, who won in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, had the revenge of the defeat of the Australians in Beijing 2008. The bronze medal went to the United States, which in the final for third place to beat Great Britain 61-46. In the women's tournament, as Germany won his first Paralympic title, defeating Australia in 58-44. In front of 13,000 spectators at the North Greenwich Arena, the German players were dragged by the great performance of Mareike Adermann, author of 19 points. The bronze went to the Netherlands, who defeated the United States 71-47, winners in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. In boccia, the medal has seen impose Brazil, thanks to the two gold medals won at the last day of racing. In the category Individual BC4, the gold went to Dirceu Jose Pinto, and in the final defeated Chinese  Yuansen Zheng. In the category Mixed Individual BC2, Maciel Sousa Santos won the second gold of the day for Brazil, defeating in the final the Chinese Zhiqiang Yan. In the category Mixed Individual BC1, Thai Pattaya Tadtong won gold defeating in the final British David Smith. In the end, if was an all Korean final for the Mixed Individual BC3 category, with the victory for Ye-Jin Choi  and the silver for Ho-Won Jeong.

The battle is on between Australia and Germany in the women's wheelchair basketball final. The Australians beat the United States, defending Paralympic champions, 40-39, at the end of a hard-fought battle, where the Australians got ahead in the third period of the game and the American players attempted a sensational comeback, which failed by one point only. Battling it out against Australia for the gold will be Germany, silver medalists at Beijing 2008, who defeated Holland, following a very tight game, 49-46. The final is scheduled today at the North Greenwich Arena. In boccia, surprise victory from Norway's Roger Aandalen, who defeated the defending champion in the BC1 category, Portugal's Joao Fernandes and will now take on Britain's David Smith in the semifinal. The Thai derby went to Pattaya Tadtong, who beat Witsanu Huadpradit 7-0 and will compete against Brazil's Jose Chagas de Oliveira in the semifinal. In the BC4 category, Dirceu Jose Pinto sealed a tie-break victory against Britain's Peter McGuire, and will play against Eliseu dos Santos in an all-Brazilian semifinal. Stephen McGuire won against Czech Republic's Radek Prochazka, and will now take on China's Yuansen Zheng. Brazil also played a starring role in the BC2 category, thanks to Maciel Sousa Santos, who will challenge China's Kai Zhong in the semifinal. The other semifinal will be between Korea's Jeong So-Yeong and China's Zhiqiang Yan. In the BC3 category, it's a Korean domination with three players going into the semifinals.

Egged on by the 80,000 spectators at the London Olympic Stadium, the 19-year Jonnie Peacock won the gold in the 100m T44 setting a new Paralympic record of  10”90. Fourth place for Oscar Pistorius who, at the end of the race, gave a hug to the new Paralympic track and field star. Before Peacock's feat, other two British victories had thrown the home crowds into raptures: in the 800m T54, David Weir won his third gold medal at London 2012, after the ones in the 1500m and 5000m; in the 200m T34, Hannah Cockroft repeated the success achieved in the 100m, with the Paralympic record of 31”90. Much like David Weir, Russia's Evgenii Shvetcov also won his third gold yesterday at London 2012: after his triumphs in the 400m and 100m, he sealed another victory in the 800m T36. Five athletes won their second gold in these Paralympics: France's Assia El Hannouni, after the 400m, had a repeat performance in the 200m T12, setting, together with her guide Gautier Simounet, the new world record at 24”46; Germany's Birgit Kober, after her success in the javelin, also won the title in the Shot Put F32/33/34 setting the new world record at 10.25m; China's Zhiming Wang, repeated the success achieved in the discus throw by sealing another victory in the Shot Put F40, setting a new world record with a throw of 14.46m; Cuba's Omara Durand won the gold in the 100m T13, after a victory in the 400m; Ukraine's Iurii Tsaruk won the gold in the 200m T35 with a new world record, after his winning performance in the 100m.

The men's wheelchair basketball tournament quarter finals were held at the North Greenwich Arena. At the top of the standings, the United States beat Germany 57-46, at the end of a hard-fought battle that saw the Americans take over in the last quarter of play with an outstanding performance of 20 points scored. In the semifinals, the American players will take on the defending Paralympic champions, Australia, who defeated Poland, 76-53. At the bottom of the standings, excellent performance by Great Britain, who beat Turkey 75-70. Among the host country team members, Terry Bywater's performance stood out in particular, as he scored 23 points, 5 assists and 13 rebounds. In the semifinals, the Brits will be battling it out with one of the tournament's favorites, Canada, who beat Spain 77-51. In boccia, the individual competitions have started. In the Mixed Individual BC2 category, it was a big day for Portugal, with three of their players qualifying for the next round: Cristina Goncalves, Fernando Ferreira and Abilio Valente. Portugal also played a leading role in the Mixed Individual BC1 category, with its victory in the starting game sealed by Joao Fernandes, defending Paralympic champion. Among the Portuguese's fiercest competitors, there are Thailand's Pattaya Tadtong and Witsanu Huadpradit, as well as Brazil's Jose Carlos Chagas de Oliveira. In the Mixed Individual BC3 category, excellent performance by the Brits Jacob Thomas and Scott McCowan, who will now be facing the world's number one, Korea's Jeong Ho-Won.

One of the most eagerly awaited competitions yesterday evening at the Olympic Stadium was the 4x100m relay T42/46, with the come-back of Oscar Pistorius together with his team mates: Samkelo Radebe, Zivan Smith and Arnu Fourie. The race certainly lived up to expectations, with the South African team not only winning the gold, but also setting a new world record with a time of 41”78. In the other finals of the sprint events, two athletes excelled themselves: Italy's Martina Caironi won the gold in the 100m T42 setting a new world record, 15”87; in the 100m T11, Brazil's Terezinha Guilhermina won her second gold medal at London 2012, after the one in the 200m, also setting a new world record with a time of 12"01. Still yesterday, five athletes set the world record in the finals of the throw disciplines: Italy's Assunta Legnante in the Shot Put F11/12, with a 16.74m throw; Cuba's Leonardo Diaz in the discus throw F54/55/56, with a 44.63m throw; China's Dong Xia in the Shot Put F37/38, with 17.52m; China's Liwan Yang who, after winning in the Shot Put, sealed yet another victory in the javelin F54/55/56 with a 17.89m throw; China's Pengkai Zhu in the javelin F12/12, with a 64.38m throw. Gold and world record also for Russia's Gocha Khugaev in the long jump F37/38, with a 6.31m jump.

The women's wheelchair basketball quarter finals saw the success of the favorite teams at the outset. At the top of the standings, the United States, defending Paralympic champions, defeated Canada 67-55, after bouncing back from being the weaker team in the first two quarters of the game. In the semifinals, the American players will take on Australia, bronze at Beijing 2008, who sailed through victory against Mexico, 62-37. At the bottom of the standings, Germany, silver at Beijing 2008, defeated Great Britain 55-44 at the end of a very well-balanced game until the last quarter of play. In the semifinals, the Germans will be battling it out against Holland, who secured a victory against China, 59-37. The first medals were awarded in boccia. In the Mixed Pairs BC4, Brazil won the gold, defeating the Czech Republic in the final, 5-3. The bronze medal went to Canada, who triumphed over Great Britain, 8-2. In the final for the gold medal in the Mixed Pairs BC3 category, Greece won against Portugal, defeated 4-1. The bronze went to Belgium, who secured a victory against South Korea, 4-3. In the Mixed team BC1-2 category, the gold medal was won by the favorite, Thailand, who defeated China, 10-5. Bronze medal for Great Britain, who beat Portugal, 7-5.

The competitions held yesterday at the Olympic Stadium saw some athletes win their second gold medal at London 2012 and others successfully defend the titles won at Beijing 2008. In the Shot Put F57/58, the gold was won by Alexey Ashapatov, a few days after his victory in the discus throw as well. The Russian athlete thus succeeded in defending both the titles won at Beijing 2008. After winning the 5000m T54, David Weir confirmed his Paralympic champion title in the 1500m T54 as well. The British athlete is aiming to win four golds at London 2012, after the two won at Beijing 2008. In the 1500m T46, the victory, along with a new world record, went to Abraham Tarbei, with a time of 3:50.15. This is the third Paralympic gold in the Kenyan's athlete career, after the two won at Beijing 2008. In the 400m T12 final, France's Assia El Hannouni secured her seventh gold medal, after the four won at Athens 2004 and the two at Beijing 2008. In the 400m T36 final, the gold went to Russia's Evgenii Shvetcov who set a world record with the time of 53”51. This is the athlete's second victory at London 2012, after the success in the 100m T36. To top off the day at the Olympic Stadium was the women's 4x100 relay T35/T38, won by the Russian team made up of Anastasiya Ovsyannikova, Svetlana Sergeeva, Elena Ivanova and Margarita Goncharova. It was the third gold won at these Paralympics for Goncharova.

The first medals will be awarded today in the boccia tournament. In the Mixed Pairs BC4 category, Brazil and the Czech Republic will be battling it out for gold, while Great Britain and Canada will play the final for the bronze. In the Mixed Pairs BC3 category, Portugal will take on Greece for the gold medal, and South Korea will play against Belgium for the bronze. In the Mixed Team BC1-2 category, Thailand will take on China for the gold, while Portugal will challenge Great Britain for the bronze. The last games of the qualifying rounds of the wheelchair basketball tournaments were held yesterday. In the men's tournament, all predictions made turned out as expected with the two favorite teams, Australia and Canada, who completed their rounds without a single defeat. In the Group A standings, the Australians are followed by Turkey, United States and Spain. In Group B, the Canadians are ahead of Germany, Great Britain and Poland. The pairings for the quarter finals, scheduled for Wednesday, September 5 are: Australia-Poland, Germany-USA, Canada-Spain, Turkey-Great Britain. In the women's tournament, Group A was won by Australia, thanks to their success in the last game of the round against Holland, now  in second place; third place for Canada and fourth place for Great Britain. In Group B, excellent performance by Germany, who completed the round with full marks ahead of the United States, China and Mexico. The standings have resulted in the following pairings for the quarter finals scheduled today: Australia-Mexico, USA-Canada, Holland-China, Germany-Great Britain.

Yesterday evening, two young athletes won their second gold medal at London 2012. The first is the 22-year-old Irish Michael McKillop, who confirmed his title as the world's best Paralympic middle distance runner: two days after winning gold in the 800m T37 final, he had a repeat performance and secured himself the Paralympic title in the 1500m T37, setting the new Paralympic record with a time of 4:08.11. Second gold medal as well for the young American Raymond Martin who, at just eighteen years of age, managed to win two gold medals in two days, one in the 100m T52 and the other in the 400m T52. Yesterday, other five World records were set in the finals held at the Olympic Stadium: in the javelin F33/34/52/53, German Birgit Kober had a 27.03m throw; in the 5000m T12, Moroccan El Amin Chentouf ran in 13:53.76; in the 1500m T11, Kenyan Samwel Mushai Kimani and his guide James Boit ran in 3:58.37; in the Shot Put F42/44, Chinese Juan Yao had a 13.05m throw; in the long jump F20, Polish Karolina Kucharczyk had a 6m jump. A great deal of enthusiasm also for Britain's Mickey Bushell, who won the 100m T53 final setting a new Paralympic record with a 14”75 time.

The last day of the preliminary rounds of the wheelchair basketball tournament will be held today. Group A of the men's tournament is dominated by Australia, at the top of the current standings with full marks, followed by Spain. The United States, currently in third place, suffered a historical defeat against Turkey in the starting game. For Turkey, currently lying in fourth place, it was its first-ever victory against the Americans. In Group B, Canada, according to plan, is still unbeaten and leads the pack, followed by Germany, Great Britain and Poland. All went according to plan in Group A of the women's tournament as well, with Australia who, despite their defeat against Canada, is still at the top of the standings. Behind, with one less game under their belt, there is Holland, Canada and Great Britain. On the other hand, there was a surprise victory in Group B, with Germany's success against the favorites, the United States. The German players are leading the standings with full marks, ahead of the USA, China and Mexico.
Sunday also marked the start of the boccia tournament, with the Mixed Pairs and Mixed Team categories. In the Mixed Pairs BC3 category, South Korea, who won gold at Beijing 2008, lost their first game but then bounced back to claim a victory against the host country Great Britain. Excellent performances by Portugal, Belgium and Greece, winners of  their first two games. In the Mixed Team BC1-2 category, Thailand took center stage, undefeated after two matches, as did Great Britain and South Korea. In the Mixed Pairs BC4 category, great start for Czech Republic, Brazil and Canada, still unbeaten after two games.

The Paralympic Games track and field program has got off to a great start, with a string of World and Paralympic records. One of the new World records was set by Oscar Pistorius in the preliminary rounds of the 200m T44, with a 21”30 run. However, the South African athlete had to make do with a silver in the final, which was won by Brazilian Alan Oliveira. Another great star of these first Paralympic days was Irish Jason Smyth who, by winning the 100m T13 final and setting a new World record at 10”46, confirmed his title as the fastest Paralympic athlete in the world. The results achieved by British athletes Hannah Cockroft and Richard Whitehead were saluted with roaring enthusiasm: the former ran the 100m T34 final in 18'06, while the latter the 200m T42 final in 24”38. In the women's compartment, Russian Margarita Goncharova took center stage as she managed to snap up two gold medals: in the long jump F37/38 and in the 100m T38. In the throw disciplines, other World records were set by Serbian Zeljko Dimitrijevic in the club throw F31/32/51 (26.88m), by Russian Alexey Ashapatov in the discus throw F57/58 (60.72m) and by Polish Katarzyna Piekart in the javelin F46 (41.15m). Excellent performance by Australian Kelly Cartwright as well, who won gold and set a World record in the long jump F42/44, with a 4.38m jump.

On Sunday, September 2, with the first matches involving pairs and mixed teams, boccia will make its debut at the London 2012 Games. It is a sport with similar rules to bocce and requires great muscular control and extreme concentration by competing athletes. Boccia, introduced into the Paralympic program at the 1984 New York Games, is now practiced in over 50 countries worldwide. London 2012 will see a line-up of 104 athletes, men and women, competing individually, in pairs or in teams. Boccia players are athletes in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy or with a series of motor disabilities; a rating system ensures that athletes competing against one another have similar disabilities. The nation that achieved the best results in the last editions of the Paralympic Games and looking to be the favorite at the start of London 2012 as well is Portugal which, between Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, won 3 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals; their leading player is Joao Paulo Fernandes, winner of two golds at Athens 2004 and one gold and one silver at Beijing 2008. The home crowds are expecting great things from Nigel Murray, considered by many as the best boccia player in the world.

he track and field competitions at the London Olympic Stadium which, until September 9, will see a line-up of 1,100 athletes and 170 gold medals. The athletes, competing in a wheelchair, with prostheses or led by a seeing partner, are grouped into classes depending on the impact of their disability on performance. The classes are numbered with two digits: the first specifies the nature of the athlete's disability; the second indicates the extent of the athlete's functional abilities; the lower the second digit, the greater the impact on the ability to compete. Part of the Paralympic Games since Rome 1960, track and field has given rise to some of the icons of the Paralympic movement, legendary figures such as Louise Sauvage and Tanni Grey-Thompson. Today all eyes will be on Oscar Pistorius, first sprinter to participate in the Olympic Games, who will be defending the Paralympic titles won in Beijing 2008: 100m, 200m and 400m in the T44 category. The 100m T44 final, scheduled on Thursday, September 6, is one of the most eagerly awaited events of the whole Paralympic Games. Everybody is expecting a challenge between the South African champion and the nineteen year-old British athlete Jonnie Peacock, who set a new world record in June of this year, running in 10”85.

When the Second World War American veterans started playing wheelchair basketball as part of their rehabilitation, nobody would have imagined that, in a short period of time, the sport would have gained so much popularity worldwide. Wheelchair basketball, which is now practiced in over 80 countries, became part of the Paralympic program as from the 1960 Rome Games (the women's tournament made its debut in Tel Aviv 1968). The rules are very similar to those applied to traditional basketball, with players being required to pass the ball or dribble every two pushes of the wheelchair. To guarantee a certain degree of balance in the court, each player is assigned a value ranging from 1.0 to 4.5 depending on the severity of their disability; the sum of the values of the five players in the court must never exceed 14. London 2012 will have a line-up of 12 men's teams and 10 women's teams, divided into two preliminary groups; the teams in the top four places of each group will qualify for the knock-out quarter final rounds. The nations who are looking to be the favorites for winning the title are those who dominated the scene over the last few years, both in the men's and women's teams: Australia, Canada, USA and Great Britain.

The Opening Ceremony, held at the London Olympic Stadium, marked the official start of the XIV summer Paralympic. The ceremony, co-directed by Jenny Sealey and Bradley Hemmings, revolved around a journey through time and the great discoveries that changed our perception as to the possibilities of the mind and the human spirit. The show, which opened with an invitation by Stephen Hawking to “look up at the stars” and never lose your curiosity, continued with Sir Ian McKellen who led the way to the character of Miranda, drawn by Shakespeare's “The Tempest”, through a path that also saw the celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Newton's theory and Higgs particle. Key elements of the ceremony were also the athletes' parade, the raising of the British and Olympic flag, the lighting of the Paralympic cauldron by Margaret Maughan, first-ever British athlete to win a Paralympic gold. “Tonight is about welcoming the world to a global Games, an event where we will experience every single emotion, including ones we never thought possible", said Sir Philip Craven, Chairman of the International Paralympic Committee.

In the days preceding the start of the Paralympic Games, five giant reproductions of the Paralympic Movement took pride of place in some cities of the United Kingdom. The first reproduction (13 meters long and 8 meters high) was installed in Cardiff, outside the town hall; the second (14 meters long and 9 meters high) was inaugurated in Edinburgh with a spectacular operation by some Royal Air Force members; the last three giant sets of the Paralympic symbol were placed in three historical landmarks in London: Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge and Kew Gardens. The Paralympic logo, created by the agency Scholz & Friends and in force since 2003, represents three Agitos (from the Latin meaning "I move") with the three colors that are most widely represented in national flags around the world: blue, red and green. The three Agitos encircle a central point, which represents the focal role of the International Paralympic Committee in bringing athletes together from all corners of the world to compete. "The Paralympic Agitos is an inspiring symbol, uniting athletes and people around the world. To athletes they represent the culmination of thousands of hours of training and reaching the highest level in sport", said Seb Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organizing Committee.

After the spectacular Olympic Games which were held in early August, more than 4,000 of the finest disabled athletes have gathered in London to take part in the 2012 Paralympic Games, scheduled from August 29 to September 9. Those taking part to the athletics events will benefit from the Mondotrack in the Olympic Stadium in London, the same one used during the Olympics, to achieve their best performance. Three world records, four Olympic records, 64 national records and a multitude of personal and seasonal bests were set on the Mondotrack during the Olympics. Overall, Mondo has supplied the flooring and equipment for a total of 18 Olympic and Paralympic events, ranging from table tennis to wheelchair rugby, and from wheelchair basketball to judo.

The same enthusiasm that had accompanied the journey of the Olympic flame across the streets of the United Kingdom was renewed with the London 2012 Paralympic torch. Its journey started on August 22, when, from the highest peaks in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, four national flames were lit, then transferred inside mining lanterns in the capitals of the four nations. From August 24 to 27, with the lighting of the ceremonial cauldrons in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast, and the opening of the Flame Festivals, the general public was invited to support the Paralympic torch relay and the Paralympic Games. Following the celebrations, the four national flames reached Stoke Mandeville, the home of the Paralympic Movement, where they were united to form one single Paralympic flame. After the ceremony, the torch embarked on its 24-hour journey towards the London Olympic Stadium where, after travelling 92 miles and being carried by 580 torchbearers, it will light the Paralympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony which, today August 29, will mark the start of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The Basketball Finals held in Amsterdam on August 26th, saw the USA team competing against Spain.

The closing ceremony for the XXX Olympic Games was a huge outdoor festival, a tribute to music, fashion and English culture. Kevin Gavin, artistic director of the ceremony, put together a show with big stars and new talents of the British music, and well-known characters. On stage performed among others: The Who, The Spice Girls, Take That, Tinie Tempah, George Michael, Fatboy Slim, Madness, Jessie J, Annie Lennox, Kaiser Chiefs, Taio Cruz, Liam Gallagher, Brian May and Roger Taylor , Pet Shop Boys, Muse, Emeli Sande, Eric Idle, Julian Lloyd Webber, Ed Sheeran, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. "That of Kim Gavin was a celebration of athletes, volunteers, of London and the whole nation, who helped to organize the great Olympic Games. We have shown the best of us with these Games and have allowed the world's greatest athletes to shine. I would like to pay tribute to the volunteers, participants and the country that have made it possible for the Games to be memorable for the athletes and sports fans around the world, "said Seb Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organizing Committee. After the ceremony, the Olympic brazier was opened and 204 individual bronze petals, representing each participating nations of the London 2012 Games, have been extinguished. The evening ended with the handover between the City of London and Rio de Janeiro, which will be hosting the Games in 2016.

The U.S. men's basketball team has won the Olympic title in London, the fourteenth title of its history, and the fifth since, in 1992, when the Dream Team began the era of the national American team "made in the NBA." They had a victory after a final and tight battle with Spain that was defeated 107-100. There was an even closer score in the final in Monaco in 1972, when the Soviet Union defeated the U.S. 51-50. Among outstanding Americans, the beautiful game of Kevin Durant, with 30 points and 9 rebounds, LeBron James, with crucial baskets in the most important moments of the game, and Chris Paul, who was able to intelligently manage the end of the race. Spain has resisted for most of the game, scoring more points than the opponents in the second quarter of the game and drawing the third, but eventually the power and the physical play of some of the champion U.S. team prevailed. Among the Spanish yet another great performance by Pau Gasol, with 24 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds. The bronze medal went to Russia, who defeated Argentina 81-77. Decisive in the Russian victory, there was Alexey Shved and Andrei Kirilenko, respectively with 25 and 20 points. This is the first Olympic medal won by Russia since the former Soviet Union.

No surprises at the North Greenwich Arena in the women's basketball finals. The United States have won easily, beating France 86-50. The American team has won seventh Olympic title in nine competitions, the fifth in a row. The absolute star of the game was Candace Parker, with 21 points and 11 rebounds, but the audience ovation was all for Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, that reached their third Olympic gold. France, which has lost only to the U.S. throughout the tournament, has ended with a deserved second place. The bronze went to Australia that, in the final for third place, defeated Russia 83-74, with a great performance by Lauren Jackson, with 25 points and 11 rebounds. For the Australian team it was the fifth consecutive Olympic medal, with two bronze and three silver. Today, the next awaited event is at 3 PM with the men's tournament final between U.S. and Spain, a replay of Beijing 2008.

With just a single mistake throughout the race, Anna Chicherova has dominated the high jump final. The Russian athlete, bronze medalist in Beijing 2008 and gold at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, won by jumping 2.05 meters on his second attempt, the second and third places went to the American Brigetta Barrett and the Russian Svetlana Shkolina, both with their own personal record at 2.03 m. Russia was also the protagonist in the 800m final, with world champion Mariya Savinova who won with a time of 1:56:19. The silver medal went to the South African Caster Semenya, and the bronze to another Russian athlete, Ekaterina Poistogova. The big surprise of the evening came in the javelin throw, with the success of Keshorn Walcott, Trinidad & Tobago athlete, winner of the Junior World Championships in Barcelona 2012, with a throw at 84.58 m. Also climbed the podium the Ukrainian Oleksandr Pyatnytsya, with silver medal, and Antti Ruuskanen from Finlande, with bronze medal.

The Olympic athletics competitions at the Olympic Stadium ended with the extraordinary world record achieved by the Jamaican 4x100m relay team. Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake ran in 36.84 sec., an outstanding time! The silver medal went to the USA team, who achieved a national record by running in 37.04 sec., and the bronze medal to Trinidad & Tobago, after the disqualification of the Canadian team. With this success, Usain Bolt brings the number of consecutive Olympic gold medals to six and the world records he has beaten in his career to eight: three in the 100m, two in the 200m and three in the 4x100m relay. A few minutes before the 4x100m relay, the audience was ecstatic in the Olympic Stadium cheering to the win of the British Mo Farah, who had won in the 10,000 m just a week ago, that was repeated in the 5000m with a magnificent final race: the last 1,000 meters were the fastest in Olympic history of the specialty at 2:25:20. Mo Farah has crossed the line ahead of the Ethiopian Dejen Gebremeskel and the Kenyan Thomas Longosiwa Pkemei. In the other events of the evening, the American 4x400m team dominated and won the gold medal running in 3:16.87, fourth fastest time ever. DeeDee Trotter, Francena McCorory, Sanya Richards and Allyson Felix-Ross preceded the Russian and the Jamaican relay teams.
 
 

The final of the men's basketball tournament in London 2012 will be the USA-Spain, a repetition of Beijing 2008. Spain, the reigning European champion and second in the world rankings, has suffered a lot to overcome Russia in the semifinals. Below 11 points at half-time, Pau Gasol (16 points and 12 rebounds) and his companions contributed to a great second half, leveling the score in the third quarter and carrying forward the last quarter of the game, winning 67-59. Spain will face the big favorites, United States, now in their fifteenth finals in the history of the Games and seeking their fourteenth Olympic title. The American team did not encounter any difficulties with Argentina in the semifinals, winning 109-83. The eagerly awaited final for the gold medal will be held Sunday, August 12 at 3 pm; the final for the bronze medal is scheduled at 11 am on the same day. Today, it was the end of the women's tournament, with an unprecedented final between USA and France. If it is not surprising to see Americans play their eighth Olympic final, having won six titles to date, the French have surpassed themselves with a perfect tournament to date. The final for the Olympic title is played at 9 pm, while the one for the bronze medal, between Australia and Russia, will be held at 5 pm. Both games will be held at the North Greenwich Arena.

Many were expecting the 4x100m women relay finals to be very fast, considering the performance shown by the American and Jamaican sprinters in the 100m and 200m finals, but the U.S. relay team has exceeded all expectations, breaking the 27-years old world record with a time of 40.82. Tianna Madison, White Knight, Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix were just flying on the Mondotrack surface! The silver medal, with the national record, went to Jamaica, and the bronze to Ukraine. There was a surprise however in the 4x400 men relay finals, with the Bahamas who beat the United States by running in 2:56.72, winning their first gold medal in this discipline. The bronze medal went to Trinidad & Tobago. Four other finals were played at Olympic Stadium on Friday night. In the women's 5000m, yet another battle between Ethiopian and Kenyan athletes, the gold went to Meseret Defar, the silver to Vivian Cheruiyot Jepkemoi and the bronze to Tirunesh Dibaba to. In the women's 1,500 m, historic double for Turkey, with Asli Cakir Alptekin who won the gold medal and Gamze Bulut the silver. Third place went to Maryam Yusuf Jamal, Bahrain's middle-distance runner. In the pole vault, the gold medal was won by the French Renaud Lavillenie, who jumped 5.97 meters, and just behind him there was the Germans Bjorn Otto and Raphael Holzdeppe. Finally, the final of the women's hammer throw saw Russia's Tatyana Lysenko set a new Olympic record by throwing at 78.18m, the silver went to the Polish Anita Wlodarczyk and the bronze to German Betty Heidler.

A prominent position amongst the big names in the London 2012 must go to David Rudisha, who not only dominated the final of the 800 m, but also improved on his world record, running at 1:40.91. At just 23, the Kenyan athlete, in addition to the Olympic title that he has just won, also holds the Daegu 2011 World title. Young winners of silver and bronze medals: the eighteen year old Botswana athlete Nijel Amos and the seventeen year old Kenyan Timothy Kitum. In addition to the 200 m and 800 m, last night the Olympic Stadium also hosted three other finals. In the triple jump gold and silver went to the expected favorites, the American Christian Taylor, who won by jumping 17.81 m, and Will Claye; the bronze went to the Helsinki 2012 European champion Fabrizio Donato of Italy. In the javelin, the Czech world record holder Barbora Spotakova, won the gold by throwing 69.55 meters, repeating her Beijing 2008 success. Second and third place went to two German athletes: Christina Obergfoll and Linda Stahl. Finally, the two days of competition in the decathlon came to a close with the 1500 m, and the success of the world record holder Ashton Eaton. The American athlete, with 8,869 points, beat his teammate Trey Hardee and the Cuban Leonel Suarez.

The final of the women's basketball tournament will be between the USA and France. The American players defeated Australia by 86-73 in the first of two semi-finals, winning their fortieth consecutive victory at the Olympics. After a suffering first half, the USA dominated the second half, turning the result and earning their fifth consecutive Olympic final, the seventh since women's basketball was introduced into the Olympic program in 1976. Competing against the United States for the gold medal will be France, who played a great semi-final against Russia, winning 81-64. The final is scheduled for Saturday, August 11 at 21.00 (GMT) at the North Greenwich Arena. Today is the turn of the men's semifinals. The match between Spain and Russia will start at 17.00. The Russians triumphed over the Spanish in the qualification round, but the Spanish, reigning European champions and silver medal holders in Beijing 2008, are still the predicted favorites. The other semifinal at 21.00, sees the USA against Argentina for the second time in this tournament, the only team that has managed to break their dominance since the Americans began fielding a national team made up of NBA players in 1992. This took place in 2004, when Argentina won the gold after beating the United States in the semifinals. Eight years later, the South Americans are hoping that history will repeat itself.

Once again Usain Bolt has repeated his Beijing 2008 successes by winning both the 100m and the 200m finals in the London 2012. Last night the 80,000 spectators in the Olympic Stadium witnessed one of the most exciting races of the Games, with four athletes running under 20". A triumph for the Jamaican team: along with the gold of Bolt came the silver for Yohan Blake and the bronze for Warren Weir. With this success, Usain Bolt, who ran in 19:32, became an athletics legend, being the first ever to win the 100m and 200m in two consecutive Olympics. The sprinting event continues at the Olympic Stadium with the relay. Today will see the women's 4x100m at 20:40, with the U.S.A and Jamaica as favorites. The finalists of the men's 4x400m will compete at 21:20, with the Bahamas, Trinidad&Tobago and Great Britain trying to oppose the dominance of the U.S. team.

Yesterday was an evening full of big satisfactions for the American athletics team. Together with the gold and bronze medals in the women's 200m, they also won the gold and silver medals in the 110m hurdles and one bronze and one gold in the women's long jump. The 110m hurdles final was dominated by Aries Merritt, the only finalist to run under 13”. Although he did not manage to break the world record, the American athlete, at his first Olympiad, did set a personal best of 12.92. The silver medal went to his team mate Jason Richardson, while the bronze was won by Hansle Parchment, setting the Jamaican national record. Bitter disappointment for Dayron Robles, who suffered an injury half-way through the competition and could not complete the race. The great stars and stripes evening continued in the women's long jump, with Brittney Reese, the favorite at the outset, winning the gold on her first attempt with a 7.12m jump. Russian Elena Sokolova won the silver and American Janay Deloach the bronze. The surprise of the evening came in the women's 400m hurdles final, with Russian Natalya Antyukh snatching the gold by reaching the finishing line ahead of the big favorite, American Lashinda Demus. The bronze went to Czech Republic's Zuzana Hejnova.

Following the quarter finals held yesterday, the North Greenwich Arena court declared the names of the four men's basketball tournament semifinalists. In the first match of the day, Russia went ahead in the first quarter of play and then owned the game against Lithuania, winning 83-74. Excellent performance by the Russian Andrei Kirilenko, who scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. The second quarter final was Spain vs France, which turned out to be a hard-fought battle. The result hung in the balance right from the start when France, who only scored 6 points in the last quarter of play, was dominated by Spain, who secured a victory 66-59. On the other side of the table, the South American derby was won by Argentina, who beat Brazil 82-77. The game was very balanced and the Argentineans managed to defend the ten point margin gained in the third quarter of play right until the end. In the semifinals, Argentina will take on the United States, who beat Australia 119-86 in the last quarter final of the day, with Kobe Bryant in tip-top condition. Both semifinals will be held on Friday, August 10: Russia-Spain at 5 pm and Argentina-USA at 9 pm. Today is the day of the women's tournament semifinals. At 5 pm, Australia will attempt to pull off a feat against the United States, gold medal in the last four editions of the Games. In the other semifinal, at 9 pm, France will take on Russia, which they had already faced and beaten in the qualification round. Both teams scraped through the quarter finals and the game should be very well balanced.

The women's 200m final was expected to be a challenge between American and Jamaican sprinters and indeed it was. In the end it was won by Allyson Felix, who had already shown herself to be in tip-top shape during the qualifications. Silver medal at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, both times behind Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown (who finished in fourth place yesterday), the American athlete dominated the race and was the only finalist to run under 22”, finishing with a time of 21.88. The silver medal went to the winner of the 100m sprint, Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who set her personal best; bronze medal for American Carmelita Jeter who, in the ninth lane, was the star of a great sprint final. The men's 200m semifinals were also held yesterday, the outcome of which was very much in line with the predictions made at the start. This evening, many are expecting to see a new world record by one of the finalists, especially Usain Bolt or Yohan Blake, the big favorites for the gold medal. French Christophe Lemaitre, Dutch Churandy Martina, American Wallace Spearmon and the third competing Jamaican, Warren Weir are all likely candidates for a medal as well.

There are great expectations for the quarter finals of the men's basketball tournament, which mark the handover between the Basketball Arena and the North Greenwich Arena. It will all kick off at 2 pm (London time) with Russia-Lithuania to continue in the afternoon with France-Spain (4.15 pm). In the evening, the all-South American challenge will be on with Brazil vs Argentina; while the great basketball day will be wrapped up at 10.15 pm with the USA against Australia. Meanwhile, the women's tournament quarter finals were played yesterday, with the last London 2012 games held in the Basketball Arena. At the top of the table, Australia prevailed over China thanks to a last quarter played at the highest level. In the end, the Australians won 75-60 and will now progress to the semifinal to take on the USA, against which they played the final of the last three Olympic editions. The American players didn't encounter any problems in the challenge against Canada, beaten 91-48. At the bottom of the table, the games were very well balanced: Russia beat Turkey right at the end, 66-63, with both teams being pretty much even throughout the whole match; in the last quarter final, France was the underdog for much of the game against the Czech Republic, but then managed to turn it around and win 71-68. The semifinals, Australia-USA and Russia-France, will be held on August 9 at the North Greenwich Arena.

The queens of speed will take to the track once again, in a 200m final which is shaping up to be a thrilling one. The challenge will be yet again between Jamaica and the United States, with five of the eight finalists coming from these two countries: Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, winner of the 100m competition, and Veronica Campbell-Brown, gold in the 200m at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 as well as at the World Championships of Daegu 2011, will take on their biggest rivals, the Americans Sanya Richard-Ross, gold in the 400m, Allyson Felix, silver in the 200m at Athens 2004 and Beijng 2008, and Carmelita Jeter, silver in the 100m. The final is scheduled at 9 pm (London time). Right before that, at 8.45 pm, the final of the 400m hurdles will be held, with American Lashinda Demus, gold at Daegu 2011, looking to be the big favorite. At 9.15 pm, the Olympic title of the 110m hurdles will be awarded, another competition that promises to put on a great show. Cuban Dayron Robles, world record holder, will try to defend the gold won at Beijing 2008 against an extremely fierce opposition: the Americans Aries Merritt, gold at the Indoor World Championships of Istanbul 2012, and Jason Richardson, gold at Daegu 2011; Russian Sergey Shubenkov, winner of the European Championships of Helsinki 2012; Barbados' Ryan Brathwaite, gold at the World Championships of Berlin 2009; British Andrew Turner, bronze at Daegu 2011. Before the sprint finals, the final of the women's long jump will start at 8.05 pm, with all odds of being in favor of American Brittney Reese, gold medal in the last two editions of the World Championships, who looks to be likely to secure her first Olympic gold medal.

The evenings of great track and field competitions are still underway at the all sold-out Olympic Stadium arena. Yesterday, the most exciting competition was the 100m hurdles final, with the fastest time ever recorded in this discipline in the history of the Games. Australia's Sally Pearson, silver medal at Beijing 2008 and gold medal at the World Championships of Daegu 2011, won by breaking a new Olympic record, 12.35. The silver went to American Dawn Harper, gold at Beijing 2008, who set a personal best, just like her team mate Kellie Wells, who finished in third place. Emotions were running high in the 1500m as well, with Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi securing the gold by taking advantage of the fall of Kenyan athletes and finishing ahead of American Leonel Manzano and Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider. Other two finals were held yesterday inside the Olympic Stadium: in the discus throw, German Robert Harting, gold at the World Championships of Daegu 2011 and at the European Championships of Helsinki 2012, topped off an extraordinary year by winning the gold medal with a 68.27m throw; in the high jump, Russian Ivan Ukhov, gold at the World Championships of Doha 2010, did not have to face any opponents and won with a 2.38m jump.

The men's basketball has lined up its eight candidates for the Olympic title after the last day of the round of heats, which gave us a surprise in Group B, with Australia's victory against Russia 82-80, thanks to three points scored right at the last second. Despite the defeat, the Russians have retained their group leadership ahead of Brazil, who won the challenge against Spain 88-82. Small satisfaction for Great Britain, who avoided being at the bottom of the pile by winning 90-58 against China, defeated for the fifth time in a row. In Group A, all went according to plan: the USA ended the round unbeaten, securing a victory against Argentina 126-97, while France finished in second place, beating  Nigeria 79-73. Fourth place for Lithuania, who beat Tunisia 76-63. The quarter finals are shaping up to be very interesting given the current standings: at the top of the table, the challenge will be a South American one with Brazil vs Argentina alongside the challenge USA vs Australia; while at the bottom of the table it will be an all-European challenge: France-Spain and Russia-Lithuania. All men's tournament quarter final games are scheduled on August 8. Meanwhile, the women's tournament quarter finals will be held today. The competition will start at 2 pm (London time) with the USA looking to be the favorite in the game against Canada; the other quarter final will see Australia take on China at 4.15 pm. The last two quarter finals are scheduled in the evening: Russia-Turkey (8 pm) and France-Czech Republic (10.15 pm), with the odds being in favor of the Russians and the French.

The London 2012 Organizing Committee has taken stock of the situation at the half-way mark of the Olympic Games. The people's enthusiasm and great participation has not waned after the first few days, as shown by the five million spectators who watched the competitions from the stands of the sporting facilities and the over one million visitors hosted by the Olympic Park since the start of the Games. “We have done our best to create the best possible environment for athletes to compete in. It has all been done with the primary objective of giving athletes a chance to express themselves in the best possible way at such a crucial moment of their life”, said Seb Coe, Chairman of the Organizing Committee. Commenting on the “Super Saturday”, which saw as many as 25 gold medals being awarded to Great Britain, Seb Coe defined it as “the greatest day of sport I have ever witnessed”. A success on the web as well, with the London 2012 web site becoming the most visited sports web site in the world, with 25 million visits on Saturday alone. “I’m very proud of the show the U.K. is putting on, of the tremendous performance of our athletes; very proud of my team, which has given its heart and soul to these Games over the last seven years. I am also very proud of our brilliant volunteers who seem to be having an extraordinary impact on everyone they meet”, said Paul Deighton, CEO of the Organizing Committee.

Yesterday evening, the London Olympic Stadium witnessed a series of surprising results in the track and field competitions, starting from the bronze won by Elena Isinbayeva. The Russian athlete, Olympic champion at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, started out as the big favorite in the pole vault final, but had to make do with the lowest spot on the podium in a competition that was also affected by the wind and rain and saw the triumph of the American Jennifer Suhr, with a 4.75m jump, ahead of Cuban Yarisley Silva. Another surprise came from the 400m hurdles final, with the 34-year-old Dominican Felix Sanchez who, eight years after the gold at Athens 2004, with yesterday's success became the oldest ever winner of an Olympic Games sprint event. Behind him were American Michael Tinsley and Puerto Rican Javier Culson, the favorite before the competition. Yet another surprise was the gold medal won by the Byelorussian Nadzeya Ostapchuk in the shot put, with a 21.36m throw. The favorite, New Zealand's Valerie Adams, Olympic Champion at Beijing 2008 and World Champion at Berlin 2009 and Daegu 2011, had to settle for a silver medal, while the bronze went to Russian Evgeniia Kolodko. Conversely, all went according to plan in the 3000m steeplechase, with the defending World Champion, Russian Yuliya Zaripova, securing a gold medal with a time of 9:06.72. The silver was won by Tunisian Habiba Ghribi and the bronze by Ethiopian Sofia Assefa. In the 400m, the World Champion at Daegu 2011, Kirani James, also lived up to expectations winning his first Olympic gold at just 19 years of age. He finished the race in 43.94 ahead of Dominican Luguelin Santos and Trinidad and Tobago's athlete Lalonde Gordon.

The first three days of the track and field competitions gave us some great sporting moments at the London's Olympic Stadium, starting from the first medals awarded on Friday. In the shot put, Polish Tomasz Majewski retained his title as gold medalist after Beijing 2008, with a throw of 21.89m. In the women's 10,000m, Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba also confirmed her Olympic title, thanks to an extraordinary final that secured her the victory with a time of 30:20.75. Saturday was a day of glory for Great Britain, with the 80,000 spectators of the Olympic Stadium joining in the celebrations for the performance of Jessica Ennis, winner of the heptathlon, Greg Rutherford, gold medalist in the long jump with 8.31m, and Mo Farah, who won the 10,000m running the last lap in 53”. Still on Saturday evening, Croatian Sandra Perkovic won the gold with a 69.11m discus throw, Croatian record. Emotions were running high on Sunday as well, starting from the success of American Sanya Richard-Ross in the 400m, ahead of British Christine Ohuruogu and team mate Dee Dee Trotter. Kazakhstan's Olga Rypakova won in the triple jump with 14.98m. Hungarian Krisztian Pars won the gold with a 80.59m hammer throw. Kenya's Ezekiel Kemboi won a hard-fought battle in the 3000m steeplechase, with a time of 8:18.56.

The last games of the preliminary rounds of the men's basketball tournament will be held today. In Group A, the USA, who dominated the round of heats, will wrap up the day taking on at the Basketball Arena, at 10.15 pm, Argentina, currently lying in second place. A South American defeat would enable France, in the event of a victory over Nigeria, to rise to second place in the current standings. For the fourth place, the last good spot to qualify for the quarter finals, all odds are in favor of Lithuania, who will be taking on Tunisia, currently at the bottom of the pile. In Group B, Russia, still unbeaten, at 9 am will be playing Australia, already through to the quarter finals, to confirm their leadership position in the round. The most eagerly awaited match of the day is undoubtedly Spain vs Brazil, who will be playing one another to secure the second spot in the standings, currently occupied by the South American team. On the other hand, the game between Great Britain and China will be almost just for show, as both teams are still in search of their first victory. In the women's tournament, the preliminary round games have come to an end and these are the quarter final pairings: right at the top of the table, Australia will take on China, and the winner of this match will be battling it out in the semifinal against either the USA or Canada, depending on the outcome of their quarter final challenge; at the bottom of the table, the winner of the game between Turkey and Russia will take on the winner of France vs Czech Republic. All matches will take place on Tuesday, August 7.

The most eagerly awaited competition of the Olympic Games lived up to expectations, with as many as three athletes under 9”80. With a faster time than the one recorded in Beijing 2008, Usain Bolt sealed his gold medal victory breaking a new Olympic record with 9”63, his second best performance ever. The silver went to Yohan Blake, world champion at Daegu 2011, who ended the race in 9”75, while the bronze was secured by Justin Gatlin, Olympic champion at Athens 2004, with 9”79. “When I ran through the first round of qualifications I knew I could win - said Bolt to the BBC after the race -. I was slightly worried about my start, I didn't want to false start as I did in Daegu. My coach said to stop worrying about the start and to focus on the acceleration phase, which is my strong point. So I stopped worrying and I did what I had to do”. It could have been the first final with all runners under 10”, but the injury of Jamaican Asafa Powell, a few meters away from the finish, prevented this from happening. In the women's 100m, yet another success for Jamaica with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who managed to secure her second Olympic gold in a row after Beijing 2008. The Jamaican athlete won with a time of 10”75, ahead of American Carmelita Jeter and team mate Veronica Campbell-Brown.

The third round of the men's basketball tournament proved yet again that the USA is a force to be reckoned with, this time against Nigeria. The final score of 156-73 sets a series of records in Olympic basketball history: the most points scored in a game, the most points in a halftime total (78), the highest victory margin (83 points); Carmelo Anthony, with 37 points, broke the record for the most points scored by an American player in an Olympic game. Still in Group A, other NBA champions were the stars of the show: Tony Parker led France to a major victory against Lithuania, 82-74, while Manu Ginobili, with 24 points, made Argentina rise to victory against Tunisia, 92-69. In Group B, the battle between Spain and Russia rages on, although they both risked losing their winning streak. Spain saw Great Britain make an excellent recovery in the last quarter of the game but managed to win by just one point (79-78); same victory margin for Russia, who struggled against Brazil and won 75-74, thanks to an excellent performance by Andrei Kirilenko, scorer of 19 points. The Spanish and the Russians will be going head to head on Saturday to secure a first spot in the tournament round. In Group B, Australia confirmed its fourth place in the current standings by beating China, 81-61.

The ultimate round of the women's basketball qualifications for the quarter finals will take place today. The day at the Basketball Arena kicks off at 9 am (London time) with the challenge between the two teams who haven't had a single victory under their belt yet in Group A, Croatia and Angola. If the European team manages to nail a victory, they could still have a chance of getting through the quarter finals in the last game against Turkey. However, at this stage of the tournament the future of many teams also depends on the results of the other teams in the round. The most interesting match of Group A will be played at 4:45 pm: China, still unbeaten, will take on Turkey, currently in third place. The USA team is likely to continue its winning streak against the Czech Republic (10:15 pm), who remains optimistic about being able to qualify for the quarter finals after securing a victory against Croatia. In Group B, France and Russia will continue to fight their way to the top of the round until their head to head match in the last game. The French are favorites against Great Britain (8 pm), while the Russians will take on the strong Australians (11:15 am), who are aiming to improve their place in the current standings. In the third match of the round, last chance for Brazil to reach the fourth place and get into the next round, in the game against Canada (2:30 pm), who are currently in the last good position to be able to make it into the quarter finals.

It has been one week since the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony and now everything is ready for the track and field competitions. Two finals are scheduled today: the men's shot put, at 8.30 pm (London time) and the women's 10,000m, at 9.25 pm. In the first competition, the favorites at the outset are the Americans Reese Hoffa and Christian Cantwell; in the second, Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba, world record holder and gold medalist at Beijing 2008, will need to watch out especially from her two team mates Werknesh Kidane and Beleynesh Oljira. The other competitions scheduled are the qualifications and the first rounds of these disciplines: women's triple jump, women's 100m, women's 400m hurdles, men's hammer throw, women's 400m, men's 3000m steeplechase, women's discus throw, men's long jump, men's 1500m. With the start of the competition inside the Olympic Stadium, the Mondotracks also make their debut: aside from the Olympic one, Mondo installed two for warm-up as well: a 400m one adjacent to the facility and an 80m one located under the stadium's main stand.

After the first five days of London 2012, Seb Coe, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, has taken stock of the situation and come up with the figures. In five days, almost 3 million people attended the Games in a cheerful and safe environment where all spectators have been able to waive the flags of their own country without any problems. The Opening Ceremony of July 27 was watched by 27 million viewers on the BBC and each evening session broadcast in the following days recorded an audience of 8 million people. The London 2012 website records around 11 million visitors on a daily basis and 10 million people have downloaded the Olympics applications designed for smartphones and tablets. “Isle of Wonder”, the sound track of the Opening Ceremony, is at the top of the charts of the most downloaded albums on the web. Meanwhile, the excitement is rising for the upcoming track and field competitions, scheduled for Friday, August 3. It is shaping up to be an extraordinary weekend with a “Super Saturday” where as many as 21 gold medals will be awarded. 'I'd like to say thank you again to (the public) for providing such a special atmosphere for the athletes,' said Seb Coe.

The basketball games rage on relentlessly at the Basketball Arena. Today is the turn of the men's tournament, which will resume at 9 am (London time) with the most eagerly awaited challenge of Group A: France, who had secured a victory with an excellent performance against Argentina, will take on Lithuania, who had fallen to the South Americans in the first game to then bounce back with a victory against Nigeria in the second match. The other two challenges of the round seem to have an easily predictable outcome: at 2.30 pm, Argentina will take on Tunisia, currently at the bottom of the pile, while the USA will once again be the last team to take to the basketball court at 10.15 pm, facing Nigeria who, having scored three points in two games are still in with a chance to go through to the quarter finals. In Group B, the most spectacular challenge should be between Brazil and Russia (4.45 pm), both with a full score after winning the first two games of the round. The match between Australia and China, both in search of their first victory, could be very well balanced. Spain, on the other hand, should sail through easily in the game against Great Britain (8 pm) who are unlikely to secure a first victory against the solid Spanish team.

At the end of the third round of games, the shortlist of the teams through to the quarter finals is now taking shape in the women's basketball tournament.  In Group B, France have secured themselves a spot in the quarter finals by beating Canada 64-60. Having won the first three games, the French players have shown themselves to be among the teams with the best shape of the tournament. Australia, silver medal in the last three editions of the Olympic Games, have managed to bounce back from their defeat against France beating Brazil 67-61, the third defeat in a row for the Brazilians. No victory either for Great Britain after three games, as they had to give in to Russia's power, who secured the third victory in a row with a score of 67-61. In Group A, major victory for the Czech Republic against Croatia, 89-70. A success that may prove decisive in the battle to secure a place for the quarter finals. China won their third consecutive game beating Angola 76-52, confirming their leadership in this phase of the tournament with a full score. Following suit are the USA who, as predicted, nailed a clear victory against Turkey, 89-58.

Among the many experiences that can be enjoyed in London during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, one of the most breath-taking is the visit to the Orbit platform, the artwork designed by Anish Kapoor, chosen as a permanent monument inside the Olympic Park even after the end of the Games. Visitors make their way into an elevator with viewing portholes, passing through the entire structure before reaching the platform 85 meters high. Once on the platform, visitors can enjoy stunning views of the park, the Olympic Stadium and London's cityscape. To conclude the experience, visitors are encouraged to stroll down the spiral staircase that twists through the Orbit, enjoying even more amazing sights. The Orbit's red spiral structure, 115 meters high, intends to represent both London and the United Kingdom. Its construction began in November 2010 and was completed in April 2012. After the Games, Orbit will be temporarily closed until the end of 2013, when it will open again for viewing and go back to being a highly sought-after destination for London's visitors.

The third round of the women's basketball tournament will be played today. For the teams that didn't shine in the first two games, this will be the perfect opportunity to get back in the game and secure one of the first four spots in the round to qualify for the quarter finals. In Group A, the most important challenge for the rankings is between Croatia and the Czech Republic (8 pm). Both teams lost the first two games and are in desperate need of a victory to have some hope of going through. China is the favorite in the game against Angola (11.15 am), and a victory would place it right at the top of the group with a full score. If things go according to plan, China should be in the company of the USA, which will play the last game scheduled today at the Basketball Arena, taking on the third unbeaten team in the round, Turkey, at 10.15 pm. In Group B, France, group leader with a full score alongside Russia, could be on yet another winning streak against Canada (9 am). Russia is another favorite in the afternoon match (4.45 pm) against Great Britain, which desperately needs a victory to avoid missing out on the first four spots. The most eagerly awaited game of the round will be at 2.30 pm: Australia against Brazil, with the former having to prove their ability to put behind their defeat against France.

The second round of the men's basketball tournament was held yesterday. The most interesting game of the day was between Argentina and France which ended in favor of the European team, 71-64. Manu Ginobili wasn't enough for the South Americans to sweep to victory, despite scoring 26 points. Among the French, an outstanding performance by another NBA player, Tony Parker, with 17 points and 5 assists. France, beaten by the USA in the first game, have now managed to catch up with Argentina, which had dominated Lithuania at the outset. The Lithuanians have bounced back from their bad start beating Nigeria 72-53. The USA have secured a victory against Tunisia 110-63 and are the only team left unbeaten in their group. In Group B, no problem whatsoever for Russia, led to victory by an excellent Kirilenko against China, 73-54. Spain, after struggling in the first quarter against Australia, nailed a victory 82-70, also thanks to the 20 points scored by Pau Gasol. No joy for Great Britain, which held its own in the first two quarters against Brazil, but was then defeated by a narrow margin, 67-62.

In the run-up to the track and field competitions, the London Olympic Stadium is back to its original state, with the red Mondotrack once again at the heart of the all the action ready to start with the arrival of the athletes. One of the most delicate operations during the 80 hours of work required to dismantle the huge stage created for the Opening Ceremony was moving the Olympic cauldron to the south end of the stadium. During the transition, the flame was placed in a special miners' lantern overnight. The cauldron was then relit with the Olympic Torch by one of the London 1948 torch-bearers, Austin Playfoot. The structure, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, is 8.5m high and is made up of 204 steel pipes and as many individually designed copper petals inscribed with the names of the London 2012 competing nations. At the end of the Games, each team will have its petal and the cauldron will cease to exist.

The men's basketball tournament will resume today, with the challenge between the first day's winning and losing teams scheduled to hot things up again in the arena. The first competition hosted by the Basketball Arena will be in Group B between China and Russia at 9 am (London time). Another very challenging match for the Chinese team after their defeat against Spain. The Spaniards look to be the favorites in the game against Australia at 11.15 am. The last game of the group will see Brazil, which fought hard to secure a victory against the Australians in the first game, take on Great Britain (4.45 pm). In this case as well, all odds seem to be in favor of the South Americans, however the support of the home crowd could be an extra weapon in the arsenal of the host team. In Group A, at 2.30 pm, Lithuania, after falling to Argentina, will take on Nigeria, which instead secured a victory against Tunisia, albeit by 4 points only. At 8 pm, France, which was able to contrast the American power house, will be slugging it out against Argentina, which put on an excellent performance against the Lithuanians. The day at the Basketball Arena will be topped off by team USA, which could still put on a spectacular show in the apparently predictable game against Tunisia (10.15 pm).

The second day of London 2012 women's basketball tournament was characterized by a surprising turn of events: France beat Australia, which had only lost against the USA in all games played from 1996 until yesterday. The French managed to pull off this feat after an extra time, securing a 74-70 victory and securing full points in Group B after two games. The other surprise of the tournament is in Group A, where, together with the USA and Turkey,  we find also China in first position, after its clear 83-50 victory against Croatia. In the same group, the USA had an easy victory in the match against Angola, 90-38, while Turkey, at the end of a balanced game, managed to beat the Czech Republic 61-57, with the latter surprisingly still at zero points after two games. Apart from France, Group B is topped by Russia as well, which won against Brazil after securing a victory against Canada. Team GB are still waiting for their first Olympic victory as they were defeated by the Canadian team 73-65. The home team are last to bottom in their group at the moment, with only one point difference with bottom-of-the-pile Brazil.

The first basketball weekend of the Olympic Games has seen the USA teams get off to a great start, legitimizing their role as the big favorites for the gold medal. In the men's event, the USA secured an easy 98-71 victory against France with an excellent performance by Kevin Durant, best scorer with 22 points. Spain, considered by many as the number one opponents of the American team, won 97-81 against China, with a great performance by two NBA players: Pau Gasol and Ibaka. Another great start for Argentina which, led by Manu Ginobili, knocked off Lithuania 102-79. On the other hand, the audience's support wasn't enough for the host team Great Britain against Russia, won by the latter, 95-75. In the other matches, a hard-fought victory for Brazil against Australia (75-71) and success for Nigeria in the African derby against Tunisia (60-56). In the women's event, the USA team snatched their 34th victory in a row since 1992 beating Croatia 81-56. The Czech Republic's defeat against China, 66-57, was the only surprise of the weekend. Russia won a very balanced match against Canada (58-53). Great Britain lost, despite putting up a good fight against Australia (74-58). In the other matches, Turkey beat Angola, and France triumphed over Brazil.

The twelve teams starring in the women's basketball Olympic tournament will be battling it out once again at the Basketball Arena today. In Group A, the USA will be playing an easily predictable game against Angola (at 10.15 pm London time), which lost against Turkey in the first match. The Turkish team will be slugging it out against the Czech Republic (at 11.15 am), which suffered a surprise defeat against China in the first game. The Chinese team will try to secure another victory against Croatia in the first match of the day, at 9 am. In Group B, France, having defeated Brazil in the opening game, will try to put up a fight against the group's favorite team, Australia (2.30 pm). Russia, which defeated the home team on Saturday, will now battle it out against Brazil (4.45 pm), while Great Britain will seek their first victory against Canada (8 pm).

The London 2012 Opening Ceremony lived up to everybody's expectations. Director Danny Boyle put together a perfect show the massive scale of which is also demonstrated by its numbers. On the 15,000 sqm area of the Olympic Stadium, 7,500 volunteers took it in turns between one scene and another, accompanied by 40 sheep, 12 horses, 3 cows and 12,956 props, and used 57,000 costumes. The volunteers took part in 284 rehearsals to prepare for the event in the weeks prior to the Olympic Games. A 1 million Watt system was required to light the show, with 317 km of cable to connect the pixel screens. A total of 7 billion pieces of confetti was released taking all choreographies into account. The Opening Ceremony was watched live by 60,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium and by over a billion people on TV screens worldwide, including 27 million British viewers (there had been 6 million viewers for the Beijing 2008 ceremony). Another number to add to the list is 007: the most popular secret agent was one of the big stars of the show, with the ironic and spectacular video filmed together with Queen Elizabeth II.

The ceremonies have been a part of the Games since ancient Greece times, but only in the last decade, starting from Moscow 1980, has the Opening Ceremony become the great spectacle as we know it today, which entertains millions of people around the world every four years. Even if the more artistic part is in the hands of the host Country, there is a strict protocol that cannot be modified and is applicable to every Olympic edition. The ceremony starts with the hoisting of the flag and the playing of the national anthem of the host Country, followed by the artistic show which features elements that are typical of the local culture and tradition, together with references to the Olympic spirit. The end of the show marks the start of the more traditional part of the ceremony, which includes the parade of the participating nations, which make their entrance in alphabetical order, apart from Greece that always enters the stadium first and the host Country, which is the last to march in. Once all nations have entered the stadium, the Presidents of the Organizing Committee and of the International Olympic Committee hold their speeches, followed by the declaration of official opening of the Games by the host Country's head of state.
After the Olympic flag has been raised and the Olympic anthem played, an athlete and a judge take an oath on respecting and abiding by the rules on behalf of all participants in the Games. Finally, the Olympic torch is brought into the stadium and passed from athlete to athlete until the last torch-bearer, who has the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron.

The time has come at long last: this evening, at 9 pm London time, the Opening Ceremony will mark the official start of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Naturally, there is a great deal of curiosity on the show that will be put on and the organizers have only revealed a few aspects of the ceremony. First, its duration: it will last three hours and a quarter, with the fastest ever team parade (one and a half hours versus the almost three hours of Beijing 2008). It is known that director Danny Boyle has thrown in music by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Paganini and Mike Oldfield. The evening's presenters will be actors Daniel Craig and Rowan Atkinson. In addition to the information coming from official sources, further details have been leaked by those who attended the general rehearsals. To avoid spoiling the surprise, we will only say that the British national anthem, in honor of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, should be performed in sign language by a choir of deaf and hearing children and that some of the ensuing choreographs should draw inspiration from 007, Mary Poppins, Captain Hook and Harry Potter. We'll have to just wait and see. Happy viewing, everyone!

Among the 173 torch-bearers who carried the Olympic Flame through London on Thursday, July 26, there was also Maurizio Stroppiana, CEO of Mondo. The London's Olympic edition is the tenth Olympiad in which the Italian company has participated as Official Supplier. “To be able to carry the Olympic torch on such a special occasion for Mondo as the tenth anniversary of our collaboration with the Olympic Committee was twice as exciting for me - remarked Maurizio Stroppiana -. The Olympic Games represent the height of sporting values and being part of the long relay that will light the cauldron of these XXX Games makes me particularly proud, especially in the knowledge of what this edition means to us”.

Aside from the speed disciplines, the London's Olympic Stadium will also host other disciplines that have made the history of the Games. Let's take a look at the favorite candidates for the gold medal in these sports. In the men's high jump, the absolute stars of the show should be the American World Champion Jesse Williams and the Russian Ivan Ukhov; the outcome of the women's competition, after Blanka Vlasic and Antonietta Di Martino have dropped out, is looking a lot more uncertain, with the Russian Anna Chicherova, defending World Champion, being a notch above the others. In the men's long jump, all eyes are on the young German Sebastian Bayer, recent gold medalist at the Helsinki European Championships; in the women's event, the favorite is two-time World Champion Brittney Reese. In the triple jump, the odds are stacked in favor of the American Christian Taylor, gold medalist at Daegu 2011, who will be battling it out, among other opponents, with the Italian Fabrizio Donato, gold medalist at the Helsinki European Championships; in the women's event, the most likely candidate to win the gold is the Ukrainian Olha Saladuha. In the men's pole vault, Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie will need to watch out especially for the Germans Bjorn Otto and Malte Mohr; in the women's competition, the favorite can only be the Russian Yelena Isinbayeva, even if the best score of the season was obtained by the Brazilian Fabiana Murer, gold medalist at the 2011 Athletics World Championships.

To welcome the day of the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, on the morning of Friday, July 27th, Big Ben and thousands of other bells across the United Kingdom will be ringing non-stop for three minutes. This is the performance entitled  Work No. 1197, conceived by the Turner-prize winning artist and musician Martin Creed for the London 2012 Festival. The Big Ben will chime more than forty times between 8:12 am and 8:15 am. A historic event, as it is the first time that the strike of Big Ben has been rung outside its regular schedule since February 15, 1952 for the funeral of King George VI. Whoever is in Great Britain tomorrow will be able to participate in the event by ringing any kind of bell for three minutes. And those without a bell will be able to download from the web site www.allthebells.com an exclusive Martin Creed ringtone, Work No. 1372, capable of reproducing the sound of twenty-eight different bells.

Ruth Mackenzie, Director of London 2012 Festival, said: “This initiative is London 2012 Festival’s biggest community project, and we are incredibly excited that the commission allows everyone in the UK the chance to be part of history in the making as we aim to set a world record for the largest number of bells to be rung simultaneously.”

Sir Philip Craven and Jacques Rogge, Presidents of the International Paralympic Committee and of the International Olympic Committee, have signed an agreement in London to ensure that the Paralympic Games will be held in the same city as the Olympic Games until 2020. This extends an already consolidated co-operation agreement, including the 2018 PyeongChang and the 2020 Games, which will be held in one of the three candidate cities: Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo. Jacques Rogge said "I'm delighted to extend our close co-operation with the IPC through to 2020. They have a fundamentally important role in the Olympic movement". Sir Philip Craven added: "This is excellent news for the Paralympic movement, especially coming so close to the start of the biggest ever Paralympic Games in London“. "The agreements secure the continued growth of the movement and our members. Since 1988 we have benefited from using the same venues and infrastructure as the Olympic Games and through this agreement it will continue through to at least 2020".

In two days' time, with the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony,  the relay that has carried the Olympic Flame from the small town of Olympia, in Greece, all the way to the Olympic Stadium in London, will be drawing to a close. The enthusiasm that has welcomed the passage of the torch through the streets of the British capital will be renewed during the passage of the Paralympic Flame, which will be lit on August 28 at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium and, after a 24-hour relay, will reach London's Olympic Stadium on August 29 to kick-start the Paralympic Games. The flame, which will see the union of four different flames coming from London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, will be carried by 580 torch-bearers, divided into groups of five athletes, travelling 87 miles. Once in London, the relay will pass through some of the city's most popular areas, including: Abbey Road, Greenwich, Regent Street, Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Westminster, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Lambeth Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Tower Bridge. Festivals will be held throughout the city to celebrate the passage of the torch.

One of the primary objectives of the London 2012 Organizing Committee was to achieve an environmentally-friendly Olympic edition. Thinking back to what the industrial and degraded area of Stradford used to look like prior to the British capital being awarded with the organization of the Games, that same area where the Olympic Park now stands, one is suddenly struck by the realization of just how much work must have gone into transforming the entire district into one of the greenest areas of the city. Suffice it to say that around 90% of construction waste from the demolition of the buildings present on the territory prior to the start of the works was used to build the new structures. In addition, many of the Games sporting facilities have been designed to be dismantled at the end of the competitions and reused for other purposes. Mondo has also played its part to contribute to a "green" Olympiad: the majority of the materials supplied by the company will remain property of the Organizing Committee, while around 30% will be returned to Mondo at the end of the Games for future use.

On Tuesday, July 24th, the London 2012 team Great Britain athletes have been welcomed to the Olympic Village in a ceremony that opened with a rendition of British band Queen's famous “Bicycle Race”. The show, which went on with dancing and music, was thoroughly enjoyed by all the team members and the many spectators who attended this very colorful exhibition. At the end of the welcome ceremony, hundreds of people watched the Union Jack flag being hoisted to the tunes of “God Save the Queen”. Some of the athletes interviewed after the ceremony seemed very emotional and, if anything, even more motivated to do their very best in the upcoming two weeks of competitions. Meanwhile, the British government has deployed another 1,200 soldiers who were put on standby last week, taking the total number of troops involved to guard the Games to around 18,200.

To celebrate London 2012, twelve of the UK's leading artists were asked to create posters for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The artists, chosen from a first list of one hundred names, were divided into two groups: Martin Creed, Anthea Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Chris Ofili, Bridget Riley, Eachel Whiteread for the Olympic Games; Fiona Banner, Michael Craig Martin, Tracey Emin, Gary Hume, Sarah Morris, Bob and Roberta Smith for the Paralympic Games. Every image is a personal interpretation of the artist, and the diversity of the works shows the extraordinary creativity present in Great Britain today. The first Olympic poster in history was commissioned for the Stockholm Games in 1912, while the Paralympic Games had their own representative image ever since the first edition, in Stoke Mandeville. Over the years, great artists of the caliber of David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, have created Olympic posters. The London 2012 posters are on display at London's Tate Britain.

On Monday, July 23rd, the Chairman of the London 2012 Organizing Committee, Seb Coe, and the Chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, officially opened the International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre. For the first time ever in the history of the Olympic games, media, radio and TV representatives will all be under the same roof, as yet another example of utilizing spaces to it fullest. Located inside the Olympic Park, the complex will cater for over 20,000 broadcasters, photographers and print journalists, who, with their work and thanks to the aid of the latest technology, will be bringing the Games to four billion people worldwide. The completion of the 275m long, 104m wide and 21m tall building occupying a 29,000 sqm area and with a 4,500t steel frame, required 10 weeks of work. It will also house a shopping area with banks, travel agents, news agents and a post office, as well as a catering area that will serve up to 50,000 meals a day. The building was designed to be converted into offices at the end of the Games.

Until September 9th, the British Museum will host a display that tells the story of the production of the medals for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, from the mining of the metal by Rio Tinto to the creation of the designs by David Watkins and Lin Cheung and production by the Royal Mint. Aside from the medals, 19th and 20th century objects are also displayed, highlighting the longstanding links between Britain and the Olympic and Paralympic movements. To bring to life the modern games, Pierre de Coubertin drew inspiration from the Olympian Games, which first took place in the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock in 1850, and which he attended in 1890, six years before Athens 1896. The Paralympic Games derive from Games held in 1948 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire, for people injured in the Second World War. The mascots of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are named Wenlock and Mandeville in recognition of these two historic events.

Among the 140 torch-bearers who carried the Olympic Flame on Friday, July 20, was also Stefania Stroppiana, Mondo Marketing Manager. “I felt truly honored to carry the Olympic torch. The Olympic Games are not just a sporting event but go way deeper into the realm of peace and union among people. To get such a direct taste of the Olympic spirit was a real privilege which enabled me to share a moment of extraordinary sporting and human passion with the city of London and the rest of the world. It was an unforgettable experience and one that I will cherish forever”. Mondo is the “Official Supplier for Sport Flooring and Equipment” of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The challenge between the United States and Jamaica, which is very likely to be a recurring theme in the men's track and field sprint disciplines, might repeat itself in the women's events as well. In the 100m, all eyes will be on the challenge between the defending Olympic champion and world record holder, the Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser and the world champion, the American Carmelita Jeter; another likely candidate for the gold medal could be yet another Jamaican athlete, Veronica Campbell-Brown. The 100m star athletes should battle it out again in the final as the big favorites in the 200m and in the 4x100m relay as well. In the 800m, the athlete to beat is Kenyan Pamela Jelimo, while in the 1500m, the battle for the gold should be between Moroccan and Ethiopian athletes. Conversely, the outcome of the 5000 and 10000m is not as easy to predict, although the Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba has enough potential to win both competitions. In the 3000m steeplechase, many are betting on the Kenyan Milcah Chemos Cheywa. In the 100m hurdles, the Australian Sally Pearson was the fastest of them all this year and, apart from winning the gold, she is now aiming to break the world record. In the 400m hurdles, the battle for the gold could well be a matter to be settled within the Russian team, with Irina Davydova and Natalya Antyukh arriving in London 2012 as the favorites.

After its spectacular arrival in the capital on board a helicopter of the Royal Navy's Commando Helicopter Force, the Olympic Torch, which spent Friday night under lock and key inside the Tower of London, started its journey again from Greenwich Park on Saturday, July 21. Among the 143 torch-bearers who handed on the precious baton along a route that stretched a little over 36 miles was also gymnastics legend and winner of nine Olympic medals, Nadia Comaneci, who received the flame from former basketball player John Amaechi on top of the roof of the North Greenwich Arena, facility that will host the gymnastics competitions and the finals of the basketball tournament. On Sunday, July 22, the flame was carried by 163 torch-bearers for a little over 32 miles. The most spectacular moment was when seventeen-year-old Amelia Hempleman-Adams, the youngest person to ski to the South Pole, carried the flame atop one of the viewing capsules of the London Eye, London's giant panoramic wheel. The last torch-bearer of the weekend was former boxer and heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who lit a cauldron inside Danson Park, kick-starting the evening's celebrations.

The arrival of the Olympic Flame in London marks the start of the last week before the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. In the next seven days, the torch will continue to wing its way through the streets of the British capital, covering 200 miles and passing through the hands of another 982 torch-bearers. Before coming to London, the torch was carried by over 7,000 torch-bearers and visited more than 1,000 communities scattered across the whole of Great Britain. It has been calculated that some 9,000,000 people applauded the passage of the flame and the same enthusiasm is expected in the streets of London, where a huge crowd will surely welcome it in each of the 33 districts of the city. The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "The arrival of the Olympic Flame is a huge moment for the capital and an incredible opportunity for Londoners to experience, right on their doorsteps, the growing excitement as the countdown to the start of the Olympic Games moves ever nearer".

The Olympic Games are only seven days away and many are already starting to predict who the star athletes of this edition will be, especially in the Olympic discipline par excellence: track and field. With regard to the men's 100 and 200m sprint events, there are two top favorites: team mates Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, followed suit by the Americans Tyson Gay and Justin Gatlin, in the 100m, and Wallace Spearmon in the 200m. Jamaica is also a big favorite in the relay events. For the 400m, everyone's bet is on the American LaShawn Merritt, who will however need to watch his back especially from the defending World Champion, Grenadian Kirani James. In the middle distance race, all eyes are on Kenya as the potential winning nation, with Rudisha in the 800m, and the pair Silas Kiplagat and Asbel Kiprop in the 1500m. In the 5000m and 10000m, there are great expectations from the Ethiopian athletes, with Somali-born British athlete Mo Farah as a likely candidate to win a place on the podium. In the 110m hurdles, all eyes are on the Chinese Liu Xiang and the American Aries Merritt; while in the 400m hurdles, the favorite is Puerto Rican Javier Culson, who will need to watch out especially for the British athlete David Greene.

The London 2012 organizers have made it possible, for those who won't be able to get inside the competition sports venues, to enjoy the live performances, competitions and athletes in a truly enchanting setting. A natural amphitheater, Park Live, has been created in the heart of the Olympic Park and equipped with a double-sided giant screen broadcasting live coverage of the athletes' competitions and interviews. This area, which has space available for 10,000 spectators, will be open from the early morning until late evening, thus enabling visitors to visit it before or after the sporting events and perhaps sit down for a picnic. 2012 LOCOG Chairman Seb Coe said, "Our idea for Park Live was to create a green and colorful place for fans to cheer their heroes and soak up the Olympic Park atmosphere. With lush lawns surrounded by wildflower meadows and rustling reeds, a trip to Park Live will be a truly unforgettable experience."

The London 2012 Organizing Committee has designed an innovative schedule packed-full of (often live) music events to entertain the audiences who will be following the Games. A music library of 2012 songs with five music themes (energy, primetime, extreme, heritage and world stage) has been compiled especially for the occasion. Each theme was tailored for specific sports: for example heritage for Tennis at Wimbledon or extreme for BMX. In addition, the music program “Rock the Games” features a rich calendar of live performances and five new recorded tracks from internationally renowned artists: Muse, Elton John vs. Pnau, Delphic, Chemical Brothers and Dizzee Rascal. To top off the music events, Scissor Sisters and Rizzle Kicks are just two of the artists that are set to play surprise gigs at some of the Olympic venues.

Artists coming from all over the world will gather in Great Britain to take part in the London 2012 Festival during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The program, with over 12,000 performances including dance, music, theater, fashion, food, art or films, promises to cater for all visitors' tastes. The London 2012 Festival is the grand finale of the Cultural Olympiad, which has been running since 2008 involving over 18 million people in the last four years, and will include shows and performances of all kinds, from large-scale to local events. The Festival will be running through September 9, 2012, the last day of the Paralympic Games. Please visit the Festival's web site at http://festival.london2012.com to find out when and where the upcoming events will be held.

One of the teams likely to get the largest following during the Olympic Games is the USA Men's basketball team for the show they put on at every match. The star-studded team, which can boast champions such as the likes of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have been completing their pre-Olympic preparation with a series of test matches and this evening they will take on the host team, Great Britain, in Manchester. The game against the United States will give Great Britain a chance to test their actual potential before taking on the challenging Olympic round against Russia, Brazil, Australia and China. The USA, the big favorites for winning the gold medal, were entered in the same round as France, Argentina, Tunisia, Lithuania and Nigeria.

Many displays of the five Olympic rings have been unveiled all over Great Britain in the last few weeks, the most spectacular of them all being the Royal Botanic Gardens, inside London's Kew Gardens. The rings, made up of over 20,000 plants, have a circumference of 15.5 meters each and are visible from the Heathrow flight path. The flowers were planted over a period of five days by a team of volunteers. The flowers used are: Viola “Blue For You”, Viola “Clear Yellow”, Viola “Black Delight”, apple mint and Viola “Red Blotch”. In addition, to celebrate the UK's role in the birth of the modern Olympic Movement, a total of around forty Coubertin Oaks were planted at venues across the whole country. These are trees grown from acorns taken from the English Oak planted in 1890 during the visit of the founder of the modern Olympic Movement, Pierre de Coubertin.

The gold, silver and bronze medals that will be draped around the neck of winning athletes will be kept inside the Tower of London for the 805 award ceremonies scheduled to take place at over thirty Olympic sports venues across the whole UK. The mining company Rio Tinto provided eight tonnes of gold, silver and bronze extracted from the mine Kennecott Utah Copper of Salt Lake City,  United States, and the mine Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia, to produce the 4,700 medals. The medals were crafted at the Royal Mint in South Wales. Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson said: "For the athletes competing to win these medals, they are as precious as the Crown Jewels, so it is fitting that they should be stored for safe keeping in the same iconic location". Circular in shape, to represent the globe, the summer Olympic medals feature the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, on the front, as she steps out of the Parthenon to reach the host city. The front of the Paralympic medals represents "spirit in motion".

Among the various eco-sustainable projects implemented for London 2012, one of the most interesting ones is the pioneering walkway connecting West Ham Station to the Olympic Park. This will be lit round the clock by the footsteps of spectators passing through. It is made possible thanks to twelve special energy harvesting floor tiles produced by the British company Pavegen, specialized in renewable energy and technology. It has been estimated that the tiles will receive over 12 million impressions, generating 72 million joules of energy, enough to power a small electric car for 397 laps of the Olympic athletics track or charge 10,000 mobile phones for an hour. The power will be used to illuminate the walkway for eight hours at full power during the night, and sixteen daylight hours at half power. The units will also produce an energy surplus of around 35%, which will be stored in the batteries. David Stubbs, Head of Sustainability at the London Organizing Committee said: "We want people coming to the Games to be able to do their bit for the environment and this is a great example where, literally in a few steps, people can actively contribute towards making these Games truly sustainable".

We are only ten days away from the start of the 2012 London Olympic Games and the world's sporting community is celebrating a truly special anniversary: the first 100 years of the International Association of Athletics Federations. The IAAF was indeed founded on July 17, 1912, only two days after the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games, which were hosted by the Swedish capital that year. To celebrate this memorable event with a touch of creativity, the IAAF Centenary Working Group was set up by the President Lamine Diack, giving rise to a few initiatives, including the creation of a location dedicated especially to the 100th anniversary. On the weekend of November 24-25, 2012, Barcelona will be hosting a special edition of the annual International Athletics Foundation Gala, usually held in the Principality of Monaco. The show and dinner party will top off a week packed full of events held in the Catalan city, including the track and field demonstration events and the presentation of the 2012 Athletes of the Year Awards. As yet another way of celebrating the IAAF's 100th anniversary, a Hall of Fame was created alongside the commissioning of a book on the political and administrative history of the Association, as well as the major events and milestones of the international competitions as from 1912. In addition, a commemoration medal and diploma were designed and will be sent to all IAAF member federations, thus giving each individual federation a chance to select and award those who left an indelible mark in the history of sport.

On the occasion of the official opening of the Olympic Village, the first Team Welcome Ceremonies have been held, a show that will be repeated every day until the start of the Olympic Games. The ceremonies were created, produced and choreographed by The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT), which will also take center stage with live exhibitions of all the shows celebrating the athletes' strength, determination and courage. In order to get all athletes involved in the ceremony, the artists will be singing, dancing and performing around them, creating a thrilling and engaging atmosphere. Aside from the more theatrical part, the Team Welcome Ceremonies also include more institutional moments, such as the national anthem singing and flag hoisting carried out by the Armed Forces. In preparation for the Olympic Games, over 200 national anthems have been arranged by the British composer, conductor and cellist Philip Sheppard, and recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios. The process required 36 musicians and 50 recording hours. The anthems, aside from accompanying the over 100 welcome ceremonies, will also be played during the 805 award ceremonies of the Games.
“Teams from all over the world are coming to London and the Athletes' Village will be their home during the Games. Some of them will be visiting London for the first time, for others this will be their first Olympic experience and therefore their first impressions will be very important. I have no doubt that the  NYT will ensure that athletes receive the warmest possible welcome to London and will help set the tone for what might be the most important time in the sporting career of some of those athletes”, remarked Seb Coe, LOCOG President. “The performance of the anthems is one of the most emotional moments of every Olympiad and it was an incredible experience for me as well in Moscow and Los Angeles. I am delighted to have worked with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to achieve this pivotal moment of the ceremonies during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

With the arrival of the first athletes, the London 2012 Olympic Village has officially opened. An influx of thousands of athletes and executives from the different teams is expected in the next few days: it has been estimated that, during peak times, the village will host up to 16,000 people. The teams will be accommodated in the 2,818 apartments, divided into eleven residential units, each built around a courtyard to provide athletes with private areas to relax in. "We have been working hard to provide the Olympic Village guests with all the comfort they need in order to ensure the best possible preparation for the most important moment in their sporting career”, said Seb Coe, President of the 2012 London Olympic Games Organizing Committee. Although it is the most compact Olympic Village in the Games' recent history, the feeling of open space is ensured by the presence of a park inside as well as its proximity to the Olympic Park. “The athletes coming to the London Games have spent years training for this competition. We now welcome them to a village that is safe, comfortable and well equipped, so that they can focus only on their performance on the big day. And, after the athletes have returned to their home countries, Londoners will take over and enjoy, for generations to come, the extraordinary houses a stone's throw away from the new London park”, remarked Boris Johnson, mayor of London. At the end of the Games, all 'Olympic' accessories will be removed from the apartments and new kitchens will be fitted in to create those new houses that will form the new East Village residential complex. The residents of the new neighborhood will be able to take advantage of the new parks and squares and of the excellent transportation links to the center of London, thanks to Stratford International station, right next to the Olympic Village.

The 21st European Athletics Championships took place at the Olympiastadion in Helsinki from June 27 to July 1, 2012. Fifty nations participated to this event, which marked a profound change in the event’s formula: in fact, from this edition, the European Championships will be held every two years instead of four as in the past. This change resulted in the Finnish edition coinciding with the Olympic year, and its proximity to the opening of the Games has resulted in the elimination of the racewalking and the marathon from the Championship program. Many of the favourites managed to win gold in other disciplines, showing excellent form in view of London 2012, amongst which: Christophe Lemaitre for France in the 100 m; Mo Farah for Britain in the 5,000 m; David Storl and Robert Harting for Germany respectively in the shot put and discus; Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad for France in the 3,000 steeplechase and fellow athlete Ranaud Lavillenie in the pole vault; Mariya Ryemyen and Olha Sladukha for the Ukrainian respectively in the 200 m and triple jump; Anita Wlodarczyk for Poland in the hammer. First place in the medals went to Germany with 16 medals (6 golds), ahead of Russia (5 golds) and France (5 golds). These were the third European Athletics Championships for the Finnish capital hosted in the Olympic stadium after the 1971 and 1994 editions; the first to be held on Mondotrack, which was installed in the stadium in 2010.

Mondo has signed an agreement with Dorna, the company that organizes and promotes all events in the MotoGP circuit, becoming Circuit Equipment Services Provider of the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons. The Gallo d'Alba company will provide flooring for the offices in several Dorna racetracks and for Garage 00, where the technical inspections of vehicles take place. In addition, Mondo will offer seats of its Venelli brand. Already, four MotoGP circuits are with Venelli seats: Assen, Mugello, Sachsenring and Sepang. With this agreement, Mondo is consolidating its presence in MotoGP, where it made its debut in August 2009 when it installed the artificial turf for the escape routes of the Jerez de la Frontera circuit. "Being the Circuit Equipment Services Providers of MotoGP is a good omen - said Maurizio Stroppiana, President and CEO of Mondo - as it means that our floors are becoming increasingly popular in various sectors and not just in athletics, where we have been the main supplier of the last ten Olympics. The popularity of MotoGP is further evidence of the quality of our products and underlines the professionalism of our company. "I'm really happy that a prestigious event as MotoGP has signed an agreement with Mondo, also a leader in its sector - said Pau Serracanta, the Managerial Director, Commercial Area of Dorna Sports -. Mondo is a company that has always been linked to major sporting events, like the Olympics that are evidence of its experience and expertise in managing major events. I believe that the B2B opportunities offered by this agreement will be very fruitful in the future. "

Milan Civic Arena: Saturday, June 23rd a new Mondo track record in the triple jump.

After improving several times the Italian record in the triple jump indoor season, Ottavia Cestonaro obtained excellent results in outdoors and enters the history of the specialty: the magical platform of the Milan Arena (who can forget the duel between Fabrizio Donato and Paul Camossi the Night of 2000) with a triple jump of 13:32 (+1.4) in the second round of a competition she dominated from the beginning.

From the French Riviera this is the second World Best Time U.18 of the year (after the spanish Ana Peleteiro 13:50) and in any case of a result to the thresholds of the top-10 season also at the junior level.

In a painful day for speed, with so much headwind, the Mondo Sportflex SX Performance track has contributed to other good results, especially for jumpers: in addition to the Cestonaro’s record, the Latvian women in the high jump, Dindune Undine, (5th at the 2011 World Students of Lille, wearing the colors of the Enterprise) rose to 1.79. Erika Omoregie Furlani and Eleanor were both awarded with the 1.77 figure.

Mondo will be an exhibitor at SAIE, a well-known international building exhibition, Mondo will have a booth located in Hall 21 of the new SAIE & Sport Technologies exhibition. The forum’s theme will be dedicated to innovative systems and materials used in sports and recreational facilities. The central area, coordinated by the National Amateur Soccer League, is where we can learn more about qualification procedures, materials and technologies in which Italy is at the forefront.
The square will be dedicated to soccer specifically and in general to the synthetic turf industry, where Mondo has been operating for years with Mondoturf.
For further information and updates about the SAIE 2012 - Sports & Technologies fair

Paralympic track and field athletes from the U.S. who hope to compete in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London will first have to make it through the Paralympic Team Trials at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (Indianapolis, Indiana) June 29-July 1. Those who qualify for the U.S. Paralympic team at IUPUI will compete at the Paralympic Games in London, Aug. 29-Sept. 9, on another Mondo surface: Mondotrack.

Located on the Indiana University campus of IUPUI and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium features a Super X Performance track. The venue’s long jump and triple jump running lanes also are Super X Performance surfaces.

The IUPUI stadium has hosted numerous prestigious track and field events, including the 2006 and 2007 USA Track & Field Championships. It also hosted the 1988 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, where Olympian Carl Lewis recorded a record-breaking performance in the men’s long jump and fellow Olympian Florence Griffith Joyner set a record in the women’s 100 meters.
 

Just over a month before the London 2012 Games, preparations are underway for the opening ceremony on July 27th. Danny Boyle, artistic director of the event, publicly thanked thousands of volunteers who have been working day and night to ensure a successful event. Boyle has revealed, in a presentation to the British media, the first scene of the ceremony titled "Green and Pleasant". The Olympic Stadium will be transformed into a typical English countryside, with hills, meadows, rivers and typical farm animals.

A little more than a month before the Games, the relay of torchbearers continues with, the Olympic flame through the streets of Great Britain. At the end of its journey, which began on May 10th last month from the city of Olympia in Greece, the torch will pass through the hands of 8,000 people, including those of Stefania Stroppiana (Marketing Manager of Mondo) on July 20th, and Maurizio Stroppiana (President and Chief Executive Officer of Mondo) on July 26th, a day before the opening ceremony. "I'm certainly very excited - said Stefania Stroppiana -. Carrying the Olympic torch is a real honor for me. This is very special since the Olympics are not just a sporting event, but something much more deeply tied to the concept of peace and unity among the nations. I imagine to enjoy directly the Olympic spirit will be a real privilege that will allow me to share, with the city of London and the entire world, an extraordinary moment of passion for sports and humanity. It will be an unforgettable experience that I will always carry with me.

Last Friday, June 8th, at the Primo Nebiolo Stadium (inside the Parco Ruffini, the cradle of Turin athletics), the thirteenth Memorial Primo Nebiolo was held.

Mondo celebrates the significant achievements on the track, which was completely redone in 2009 with Mondotrack SX, the same material as the Beijing Olympic track, fast and modern, as well as IAAF certified.

In particular, the new Italian record of Emanuele Abate in 110 m hurdles and the new record of Pavel Maslak in the 400 meters.  Here are the results:
 

Women

100 METERS
1 AMIDEI Martina ITA C.U.S. TORINO 11.42 (+0.5)
Meeting Record: 1997 - Marion Jones (USA) 11.08

100 M HURDLES (+0.6)
1 18 JONES Lolo USA 12.97
2 19 KONDAKOVA Yuliya RUS 12.97
Meeting Record: 1999 – Shishigina (KAZ) 12.70

800 METERS
1 12 SANTIUSTI Yusneysi CUB ASSINDUSTRIA SPORT PADOVA 2:00.93
Meeting Record: 2011 - Yusneysi Santiusti (CUB) 1:59.00

WEIGHT
1 26 SCHWANITZ Christina GER 4 18.44 X 18.99 X 18.49 18.47 18.99
Record del meeting: 2009 – N. Mikhnevic (BLR) 19.56

TRIPLE JUMP
1 38 LA MANTIA Simona ITA 7 X 14.29 14.23 X 13.77 X 14.29
Meeting Record: 2006 – Lebedeva (RUS) 15.00

HIGH JUMP
Meeting Record: 2007 – Di Martino (ITA) 2.02 meters
2007 – K. Bergqvist (SWE) 2.02 meters

Men

100 METERS (+0.5)
1 28 CHAMBERS Dwain GBR 10.29
Meeting Record: 2001 – Williams (USA) 10.08

110 M HURDLES (+0.7)
1 57 SHUBENKOV Sergey RUS 13.21
3 51 ABATE Emanuele ITA FF.OO 13.28 (ITALIAN RECORD)
Meeting Record: 2010 - D. Robles (CUB) 13.08

200 METERS (+0.4)
1 30 MANENTI Davide ITA C.S. AIR FORCE 20.76
Meeting Record: 2007 – B. Dzingai (ZIM) 20.29

400 METERS
1 45 MASLAK Pavel CZE 45.17 (NATIONAL RECORD)
Meeting Record: 1997 – Kamoga (UGA) 44.77

800 METERS
1 22 HAMADA Mohamed EGY 1:44.98
Meeting Record: 2010 – A. Kaki (SUD) 1:43.48

5000 METERS
1 7 MELI Ezekiel KEN VIRTUS LU 13:22.90
Meeting Record: 2010 – D. Salei (KEN) 13:12.64

HIGH JUMP
Meeting Record: Kemp (BAH) 2.31 meters – Voronin (RUS) 2.31 meters
 

The Merchandise Mart in Chicago in the United States is the setting for NeoCon 2012. At the show, which runs June 11-13, Mondo (Booth 8-3068) will be showcasing its Mondo Idea, Harmoni, Terranova, Natura, and Bollo Extra lines. Many of these rubber flooring products have received GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification.

NeoCon is North America’s largest design exposition and conference for commercial interiors and the single most important architecture industry event of the year with more than 40,000 architecture and design professionals attending. Thousands of innovative products and resources for corporate, hospitality, healthcare, retail, government, institutional and residential interiors will be on display from more than 700 showrooms and exhibitors.
 

The United States’ top collegiate track and field athletes will compete for the title of best in the country at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-9.  For four out of the past five years, these prestigious championships have taken place on Mondo surfaces. The 2012 championships will be held on a Super X Performance track, named the Jim Duncan Track, at Drake Stadium.  Since the Mondo track was installed at Drake Stadium in 2006 as part of a $15 million renovation, the renowned venue has been selected to host a number of prominent track and field championships, including the 2008 and 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and the 2010 and 2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In addition, numerous meet and venue records have been set on the track, including 15 Drake Relays records in 2012 and 16 records at the 2011 Relays.

The track of Olympic Games London 2012 is landed on Sky.

At the new headquarters of Sky Italia, Rogoredo (Milan), the same track as the London 2012 has been installed, Mondotrack.

Sky will be the exclusive television station for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with 13 channels only for London.  Sky has asked MONDO to turn the main entrance of the new offices into a track, so the Piedmont company with the collaboration of Novatect has done the job.

The track, with its 2 lanes, expands from the main entrance to the reception.

Starting today until the end of the Paralympic Games, employees, collaborators, journalists, guests and sportsmen will walk on Mondotrack.
 

The "Big Store Volley Day" took place in Piazza Galimberti with the pupils of the primary schools of Cuneo and surroundings. The event has involved 2,000 children that, accompanied with around 200 teachers, have played on the 66 courts expressly prepared for the event.

The true protagonists of the day have been the mini-volleyball players, which have had the possibility to practice some of the lessons learned during the free courses offered in the Piemonte Volleyball schools.

MONDO, sponsor of Piemonte Volley for years, has supplied the mini volleyballs for the event.

"The Big Store Volley Day is an event that lies at the heart of our society, explains Marco Pistolesi, General Manager of Piemonte Volley, because it is the conclusion of a great job done by the trainers and instructors in our schools. We extend a special thanks to all our sponsors that always support us and believe in our youth and sport".
 

On Friday, May 4th, the municipal sports center “Fontanassa” was inaugurated in Savona. The event was enlivened by the participation of Savona’s I.T.I.S. boys that engaged in competitive sports: 100 meters, 1,000 meters, long jump, high jump and 4 x 100 meters relay.

The Sports Councilor, Luke Martino, said: "In recent years the facility has been subjected to several renovations, having proceeded to replace the throwing cage, the javelin throw and long jump platforms. The safety of the cliff located on the north side was also reinforced. The last thing we did was the upgrade of the electrical system.
Given the high influx of users, it was necessary to proceed with the complete renovation of the area dedicated to the athletics track in order to complete the restructuring of the entire Fontanassa Sport Center. "
 

The changes consist of:

• A building used for headquarters and services
• An outdoor athletic track with 6 lanes of each 1.22 meters wide and 400 meters long
• A semi-circular ‘’lunette’’ for the competition of high jump, pole vault and javelin throw
• Throwing platform
• Platform for the long jump and triple jump with 58 m long runway and pit fall
• A field dedicated to rugby

The sub-base was redone and a new irrigation system was installed under the dedicated rugby field.

Mondo has helped to build the sports center by providing the athletics track, MONDOTRACK SX in 13 mm thickness, a prefabricated sports flooring with special closed cell structure, and uniform thickness at every point, made of synthetic rubber and mineral fillers. The interaction between the hexagons makes the track more responsive and resilient, helping athletes improve their performance.

It will be the three-time Olympic medalist in sailing, Ben Ainslie (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008), that will be the first one to carry the Olympic torch on British grounds. The athlete will start in the last 70 days of the relay, which started its journey on May 10th from the Greek town of Olympia, and will end on July 27th at the London Olympic Stadium, when the 2012 Olympics will be officially unveiled. At the end of its journey, the Olympic torch will have passed through the hands of more than 8,000 torchbearers, including Maurizio Stroppiana (President and CEO of Mondo Spa) and Stefania Stroppiana (Marketing Manager of Mondo Spa).

The championship ended with Olympiacos winning the 2012 edition of the Euroleague Basketball Final Four, played in Istanbul. The Greek team, who beat CSKA Moscow, enjoyed an incredible comeback: down 19 points in the third quarter recovered by winning the game with just a one point difference, 62-61. It was one of the most exciting games in Euroleague history. For Olympiacos this is the second title in their history, after the one they won in 1997. The third place went to FC Barcelona, which won the consolation final 74-69 against the Greek of Panathinaikos.

On Sunday, May 13th, during the Euroleague Final Four in Istanbul which crowned the Sinam Erdem Arena as Queen of European basketball teams, an important event took place at the orphanage of Istanbul Bahcelievler Social Services Campus. In the presence of local leaders and Euroleague Basketball, was the new basketball center was inaugurated. Mondo has actively participated in this accomplishment by providing and installing, at no cost, baskets suitable for outdoor playground. The event, in cooperation with "Euroleague for Life Program", was also attended by some players of the four finalist Euroleague teams (Ramunas Siskauskas and Milos Teodosicdel CSKA, Marcelinho Huertas and Joe Ingles FC Barcelona, Mike Batiste and Stratos Perperoglou Panathinaikos, Olympiacos Kyle Hines and Georgios Printezis) who spent some time with boys of the orphanage, talking and testing Mondo equipment and shooting a few baskets.

Friday, May 11th, at the Sinam Erdem Arena in Istanbul, will kick off the 2012 edition of the Euroleague Final Four. We'll start with the two semi-finals, which will oppose CSKA Moscow to Panathinaikos and Olympiacos to Barcelona. The finals will be played Sunday, May 13th, with the winners of the semifinals, which will compete for the title of Europe's most prestigious club. Mondo will host the event as supplier of the equipment used during the Final Four.

On May 10th, with a ceremony held at the Temple of Hera in ancient Olympia, Greece, the Olympic Torch will be lit, the fire resulting from the rays of the sun. Thus will begin a journey that will take the torch throughout Greece, before arriving in Athens at the Panathenaic Stadium, home of the first modern Olympics in 1896. On May 17th, it will be delivered to the London 2012 delegation. The relay of the Olympic flame continues its journey around Great Britain for seventy days, until the opening of the Games, which will take place at the Olympic Stadium in London on July 27th. In its long journey the torch will be carried by 8,000 torchbearers, among which include Maurizio Stroppiana (President and CEO of Mondo Spa) and Stefania Stroppiana (Marketing Manager of Mondo Spa). The first torch bearer will be the Greek Spyros Gianniotis, world champion in the 10 km cross-country in swimming, and he will feel at home in London, having been born in England.

Friday, May 4th the first official competition was held on the track at the Olympic Stadium in London: the 400m hurdles at the British Universities and Colleges Sports Championships. In front of 4,000 people the Irish student, Justine Kinney, who is pursuing a master's degree at Loughborough University, won with a time of 59.79. "Since this was the first race on this track, I really wanted to win!’’ said Justine. ‘’The track is amazing; it looks like you could fly over it ". The event was also followed by DailyMail which published an interesting article online.

From May 9-11th in Orlando, Florida will host the annual conference of the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa), an association that brings together coaches from American colleges and universities, using strength & conditioning programs. These methodologies, applying the knowledge gained by scientific research, aim to achieve great improvements in performance and fitness of the athlete. Mondo, with its solutions for weight room surfaces, has been the official supplier of CSCCa since 2006. Mondo surfaces, due to their exceptional strength, durability and shock absorption offer better safety and comfort than ever before.

The 2011/2012 UEFA Futsal Cup ended with the victory of the home team FC Barcelona. The Spanish team beat 3-1 MFK Dinamo Mosca for the first place in the finals hosted by Pavello Barris, a town North of Lleida not far from Barcelona. The third place went to Italian team Marca Futsal, which has passed in the consolation finals on penalties to the Portuguese Sporting Club, after the matched had ended 3-3.

On May 8th, the Olympic Stadium in London will host the London Disability Grand Prix, the last test event in preparation for the Olympics. A challenge for some of the world's best Paralympic athletes. A few weeks before the Games, the Organizing Committee will have the opportunity to once again put to the test the facility's main event, which will start on July 27th.

The 2012 Southeastern Conference Championships will take place May 10-13 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at its Bernie Moore Track Stadium. The historic, 5,680-seat facility—recognized as one of the finest track venues in the United States—features a Mondotrack surface, the official track of the 2012 London Olympics. The state-of-the-art track was installed in 2010 and replaced a 10-year-old polyurethane surface and 30-plus-year-old subsurface. Among the most important requirements for the replacement track were that it could stand up to Baton Rouge’s underground water tables and could withstand challenging soil conditions below the track brought on by the stadium’s location near the Mississippi River.

In addition, school officials felt it would be a huge advantage for their elite and Olympic-caliber athletes to train on the same surface that will be used at the next Olympic Games. “The track surface makes a tremendous difference for elite athletes training in the sprint events and developing rhythms for hurdles, so I was convinced Mondotrack was the right product for us,” said Dennis Shaver, head coach of LSU’s track and field team. “When you research recent NCAA, world and Olympic records, you find that the majority were accomplished on Mondo tracks. I believe the record-breaking performances are directly related to the research and development Mondo puts into its products and the emphasis the company places on producing tracks that reduce the force absorbed by athletes’ bodies.”

The British University & Colleges Outdoor Athletics Championships this year are part of the Olympic track and field testing of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium and will be held in the British capital. The competitions, which will be held from May 4 -7, will give the IOC the opportunity to test the Mondotrack surface and the equipment that in a few weeks will host the athletics competitions of the Olympic Games.

From May 5 to 7 the Basketball Arena in London will host the Paralympic boccia tests, sports very similar to that of bowling that is played individually or in teams. This event will provide an opportunity for the London 2012 organizers to test the new sports complex built for the Olympics. The sports hall has a capacity of 12,000 spectators during the Games and will host an event every day. The playing surface is the Mondo Fast Break System 2. The official competitions of ball, during the Paralympics, will be hosted by the excel Centre.

Athletes at two more outdoor track and field meets at NCAA Division I universities in the United States this weekend will take their marks on tracks made by Mondo.

The 2012 Big East Conference Championships will take place May 4-6 at the University of South Florida’s USF Track & Field Stadium in Tampa, Florida. A one-of-a-kind facility, the stadium underwent a $2.79 million renovation that was completed in the fall of 2008. The highlight of the renovation was the addition of a Mondotrack surface, which was the official track of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and will be the track of the 2012 London Olympics. USF was the fourth U.S. university to install a Mondotrack.

Irwin Belk Track at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, is the site of the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 3-5. Aggie Stadium’s Super X Performance track from Mondo was installed in 2004 as part of a $1.5 million stadium renovation. “Mondo is one of the best surfaces in the world,” said Roy Thompson, director of track and field programs at North Carolina A&T. “This track made us one of the top sites in the country. Offering athletes this type of surface to train and compete on has also really helped our recruiting efforts. I can’t say enough about the surface. Mondo has a great product.”

JDL Fast Track, a privately held indoor track and field facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has been chosen as site of 2013 and 2014 Southern Conference indoor track and field championships. The meets will take place February 23-24, 2013, and March 1-2, 2014. The Southern Conference is an NCAA Division I conference.

One of the premier indoor track and field facilities in the southeastern United States, JDL Fastrack opened in January 2012. It features a 200-meter oval track with a Mondotrack surface—the same surface that will be used at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Mondo’s sports flooring also is used in non-competition areas of the arena: The warm-up track is the company’s Super X Performance surface, and the non-athletic surfaces are Mondo’s baselast underlayment.

“Mondo had great options for giving us a world-class competition surface, minimizing concrete areas and maximizing where users can wear their spikes to get from one point to another, all while staying within our budget,” said Craig Longhurs, JDL Fast Track founder.
 

From April 27 to 29 a sport center in Lleida, a town north of Barcelona, will be hosting the final four of the UEFA Futsal Cup 2012. The draw of the semi-finals that took place during the interval of the UEFA Champions League between Barcelona and AC Milan, has declared that the champions of Italy Marca Futsal is will play the finals against the Russians of MFK Dinamo Moscow, while the hosts the Barcelona FC will face the Portuguese Sporting Club the semi-finals will be played Friday, April 27th, the match for third place and one for the title will be played Sunday, April 29th.

One of the nation’s oldest and most respected track and field competitions, the Drake Relays will be held April 26-28 on the Jim Duncan track at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Participants scheduled to compete include Olympic medalists and returning Drake Relays champions, along with top-caliber elementary, high school, collegiate, elite and masters level performers.

This will be the 103rd annual Drake Relays and the sixth time that Drake Relays participants will compete on Mondo’s Super X Performance track, which is recognized around the world as one of the fastest, most durable and environmentally safest tracks available. Since the Mondo track was installed at renowned Drake Stadium in 2006 as part of a $15 million renovation, numerous meet and venue records have been set, including 16 Drake Relays records in 2011. In addition, since the renovation, the university has been selected to host a number of prestigious track and field championships, including the 2008, 2011 and 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and the 2010 and 2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

“Drake Stadium (with) the Mondo Super X Performance surface at Jim Duncan Track has become known as a venue for superior performances,” said Carolyn Hill, Drake University’s Assistant Director, Relays and Sports Information, Drake University.

For the third consecutive year the title for Champion of Italian men’s volleyball will be awarded to the winner of a match played in a single game. On April 22nd, at the Mediolanum Forum in Assago, Diatec Itas Trentino and Lube Banca Marche Macerata will compete in the V-Day Sustenium. The match will be played on the tricolor court supplied by Mondo, which is sponsoring the event. It will begin at 5:30 PM and will be broadcasted by RAI Sport.

Mondo’s Super X Performance track, the world’s top track for more than 30 years, once again will serve as the surface for two NCAA Division I outdoor track & field invitational meets. Both meets are April 20-21.

John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, is the site of the John McDonnell Invitational, named for the legendary Razorback coach who retired in 2008. Arkansas’ track and field facility is one of only four in the U.S., and the first one on a college campus, to receive the prestigious International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Class I certification. In a previous statement, Chris Bucknam, Arkansas track and field head coach, said, “Having Mondo as our track provides our university a chance to bid on meets at every level of competition, and our student-athletes love to train on it every day. It is an incredibly fast surface.”

The Vanderbilt Invitational will take place at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee on the Vanderbilt Track Complex. Clark Humphreys, the university’s women’s track and field assistant coach, said, “The Mondo Super X Performance surface is tremendously fast. Training on it is extremely beneficial, because if you want to run fast in competition, you have to train fast in practice. With Mondo, the athletes are able to do that.”
 

April 18th will celebrate the 100 days before the beginning of the London 2012 Olympics. In Great Britain athletic clubs have organized events across the nation to give everyone the opportunity to discover and experience the Olympic sports for excellence. All are keenly awaiting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, where the best athletes from around the world will compete on the track Mondotrack in the British capital's Olympic Stadium.

Mondo has provided the sports flooring for a course of diagnostic modules for training and medical treatment at the Medsport Institute of Bensheim, Germany. The course consists of a system of 150 square meters of high quality resilient rubber flooring, which has been designed to offer great benefits in tests conducted for speed during exercise and training. The project was completed in collaboration with Mondo's new partner, GlobalSpeed, whose innovative technologies on speed were the basis of the result achieved. The modules for diagnostics and training, are SpeedCourt SpeedTrack, which are part of the SpeedLab concept, which are useful for testing and training, in coordination with physiotherapy, the speed of the athletes.

UEFA has announced that the Juventus Stadium will play host to the 2014 Europa League final.

It will be the first time Italy has been asked to host the Europa League final. Mondo is proud of sharing this record hosting spectators on its seatings.

The Juventus Stadium was inaugurated in September and has an official capacity of 41,000 spectators.

The best paddle players on the planet have gathered in Barcelona to participate in the 10th World Open Pairs Championship. The finals will be held at the Palau Sant Jordi on the Mondo's most advanced artificial turf for the sport.  From last Monday through Sunday, April 1st, 32 male and 24 female couples are competing for world title. For the occasion the high quality artificial turf was installed: it is the Mondoturf NSF 3NX 80  in the color blue, with a height of 10 mm and a density of 77,000 dots per square meter.  In addition to a very spectacular and dense area, the structure of this grass is a semiconcave monofilament with three asymmetric spines offers tremendous athletic performance, improving traction and allowing the players to play a more spectacular game. In short, a surface of high level to accommodate the largest world champions in paddle tennis. Let us prepare for the finals Sunday, April 1st, to find out who are the best pairs, male and female on the planet.

Mondo will display its Ramflex rubber flooring (booth 707) as a returning exhibitor at the NIRSA Conference and Expo being held March 27-30 in Tampa, Florida at the Tampa Convention Center.. The company has been a sponsor of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, the leading resource for professional and student development, education and research in collegiate recreational sports, since 1998. With its highly durable, non-porous wear layer, an impact layer that provides excellent protection against heavy impact, its ability to withstand heavy static loads and its antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, Ramflex rubber flooring is ideal for the weight and cardio areas of fitness and recreational facilities.

Mondo will feature its Ramflex interlocking rubber tiles (booth 725) at the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association’s 31st Annual International Convention & Trade Show. IHRSA is the trade association serving the health and fitness club industry. Ramflex interlocking tiles are specially designed to meet the needs of health, fitness and recreational facilities. With its highly durable, non-porous wear layer, Ramflex has a low lifecycle cost and is easy to maintain with no waxing or sealing required. Plus, it’s slip resistant, stain resistant—not even sweat will penetrate the surface—and skate resistant, so it will not wear like flooring made from recycled tires. Ramflex interlocking tiles are ideal for locker rooms, and cardio, skate and cleat and multipurpose areas. The event is March 14 to March 17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The World Athletics Championships in Istanbul have just come to an end and we already feel the euphoria in the air  to the dawn of the Olympics. London 2012 is upon us and we look forward to this prestigious event. Many events that shaped this edition of the 2012 World Indoor Athletics Championships in Athletics Interior, among others, is the return of Elena Isinbayeva.
Excellent performance by the United States who took home over 17 medals. Italy’s Antonietta Di Martino won a silver medal.
The success of this three-day event is also attributable, in some ways,to  the professionalism of those who worked behind the scenes to ensure a perfect world championship. Of these, Mondo who has provided the equipment and tracks on which have rested the dreams of athletes and spectators from around the world.
 

Once again, Mondo is  the surface for NCAA championship track and field meets. The NCAA Division I competition will take place at Jacksons Indoor Track at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho. The Division II athletes will square off at Myers Field House at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Both meets are March 9 – 10. Jacksons Indoor Track is a Mondo portable indoor track. Both venues have the company’s Super X Performance surface.  Prior to these two events, 10 NCAA Division I conferences and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation held their indoor track and field conference championships, and all of the student-athletes competed on tracks made by Mondo.
 

Though the London Olympics will permit enthusiasts to get a good fill of sports, the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Athletics being held in Istanbul from March 9 to 11 represents a substantial starter to say the least.  In addition to the track, Mondo has also provided equipment, video screens and adjustable stands, the occasion is in a big way a test in engineering and logistics. This event will warm up the engines prior to 2012 Games where it is important to remember, Mondo is the "Official Supplier for Sports Flooring and Equipment".
In Istanbul Mondo has installed inside the Ataköy Athletics Arena, as well as the adjacent Sinan Erdem Arena, the warm up area, the special portable Mondotrack SX  track which is completely removable. The special locking system of the modules, without screws or bolts, guarantees the perfect stability of the track and the dimensional accuracy of the structure, thus allowing rapid times for assembly and disassembly.

The World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, scheduled for March 9 to 11, has registered a record even before it began: with 172 nations participating in this year edition it has surpassed the previous record achieved in 2008 in Valencia, with 147 nations. Large participation in terms of attendance, with 349 male athletes , 334 women athletes and 616 officers. The World Indoor Championships were held for the first time in Paris in 1985 with the participation of 65 nations, and the last edition was held in Doha in 2010 and was attended by 148 nations. In Istanbul, the athletes will be competing on a Mondo track, and Mondo will also provide equipment, screens and the stands.

Mondo Idea will be taking center stage at Mondo’s booth (booth 610) at the 2012 Planning, Design and Construction Summit, which is put on by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). This unique commercial rubber flooring system is ideal for a wide range of healthcare environments, such as emergency, operating and patient rooms; triage; post-anesthesia care and neonatal intensive care units; surgery preparation and recovery environments; laboratories; radiology units; and corridors and common areas. The rubber flooring also has exceptional acoustic properties that effectively reduce the sound of foot traffic, which helps to facilitate patient healing and reduces noise pollution for staff and patients. In addition, it comes in colors and designs patterns embedded into the vulcanized rubber during manufacturing, which is an industry first. The summit is March 4 to March 7 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Just a few days until the opening of the XIV World Indoor Championships in Athletics, which will be held in Istanbul from March 9 - 11. The participants are 879 athletes from 178 countries, records the event. The Ataköy Athletics Arena,  in the Turkish capital, will host a very interesting  edition of the World Championships, which is a preview of some of the challenges that will be repeated this summer during the 2012 London Games. The World Championships in Istanbul is a prestigious and important commitment for Mondo, which will provide not only the tracks, but also equipment, screens and stands demonstrating once again its organizational strength and quality of its products.

Andria will be played in the fifteenth edition of the Italian Cup Series A2 Men's Volleyball. The Del Monte Italy A2 Cup Final Four will be hosted by the indoor stadium of the city of Puglia, and will involve the Crazy Diamond Segrate, the Volleyball Molfetta, the BCC-NEP Castellana Grotte and Sir Safety Perugia. The semifinals will be played Saturday, March 3, while the final will take place on Sunday, March 4 at 17:30 live on television on Rai Sport. There is much enthusiasm surrounding the event which will involve among others, two teams of Puglia. "Puglia returns in this event thanks to the strength of two teams that have come to the Final Four giving us the opportunity to promote volleyball more in our area," said Joseph Manfredi, President of the Regional Committee Fipav Puglia. It promises to be an arena full of sports fans who will enjoy a performance made ​​even more exciting by the presence of the tricolor Mondoflex performance court, special flooring used in all Mondo's most important events in Italian volleyball. In the city of Puglia, in addition to the presence of the court, you can also count on Mondo's expertise, which will provide its support for the entire duration of the event, dealing with logistics, installation, and the final dismantling of the tricolor court.

On February 24th, the ceremony naming the new training field of the Trigoria Sport Center after Agostino Di Bartolomei took place. The event was organized by AS Roma and Mondo. The day opened with words by AS Roma, Claudio Franco and Baldini Fenucci. They were joined by Maurizio Stroppiana, president of Mondo. In front of television and journalists, AS Roma leaders recalled how Mondo and partners of the team have been in the capital since 2006 and how the field provided by Mondo has given excellent results. The ceremony was also attended by the wife and son of Agostino Di Bartolomei, who died May 30, 1994. Both appeared moved and Luca Di Bartolomei said he was happy with the choice to honor his father by naming the new field after him.
It was a very touching moment when the plaque was presented by Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and a good portion of the "old" Roma championship team of 1983 which Di Bartolomei was captain. To symbolize the past, present and the future: 51 boys from the academy entered the field, each a symbolic captain with Agostino’s name written on the back. The boys entered the field with balloons with the logo of the Mondo and AS Roma.After the field was blessed a practice match was played. Be emphasized as well as journalists and television stations were present delegations from the fan club of Rome, including the town dedicated to Agostino Di Bartolomei.

The field
Mondo has signed three synthetic turf fields approved by LND Professional near the Trigoria AS Roma Center. Training field “A”, named after Agostino Di Bartolomei, was achieved by installing the Mondoturf FTS3 system which is characterized by a new and advanced monofilament fiber called 3NX.  It is combined with ecofill infill which possesses quantifiable safety to performance safety. The new range of fiber used on the Agostino Di Bartolomei field was designed by the Institute for Biomechanics of Valencia in collaboration with the Mondo research and development Centre situated in Gallo d'Alba (CN), where other famous sports floors and athletic tracks were created (including the track for the 2012 London Olympics). "We are very proud that the training field “A” is named after Agostino Di Bartolomei - said Maurizio Stroppiana, president of Mondo had the opportunity to show their expertise by installing a system designed for professional field, it was a shared effort with AS Roma to make this a truly excellence artificial turf field in Italy. "
 

The Russian athlete Yelena Isinbayeva set a new women's indoor world record by jumping 5.01m in pole vaulet during the track meeting in XL- Galan, Stockholm where Mondo installed its Mondotrack SX.
Isinbayeva has exceeded her previous record of 5.00m,which she achieved in February 2009 in Donetsk.
Its also exceeded her record of 5.05m for which she won gold during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Picture:http://www.erki.nl/pics/main.php?g2_itemId=33646

Across the country this weekend from February 23-25, 10 NCAA Division I conferences and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation will hold their indoor track and field conference championships, and all of the student-athletes will be competing on tracks made by Mondo.

The 10 Division I conferences hosting championships, with event dates and competition venues, are:

• ACC, Feb. 23-25, Boston College
• Big Ten, Feb. 24-25, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Big 12, Feb. 24-25, Texas A&M University
• Big South, Feb. 24-25, Virginia Tech University
• Conference USA, Feb. 25-26, Birmingham (Ala.) Crossplex
• Mountain West, Feb. 23-25, Albuquerque (N.M.) Convention Center
• SEC, Feb. 24-26, University of Kentucky
• Southern, Feb. 23-24, Birmingham (Ala.) Crossplex
• Summit League, Feb. 24-25, Indiana University–Purdue University
• WAC, Feb. 23-25, Idaho Center

The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation track and field championships, Feb. 24-25, at the University of Washington in Seattle, will feature universities from the Big West, Pacific-12 and Western Athletic conferences.

Texas A&M and the Birmingham Crossplex feature a state-of-the-art, six-lane, 200-meter Mondo hydraulic banked track system with a Mondotrack running surface. IUPU has a Mondo indoor track with a Mondotrack surface. The other venues have Mondo portable indoor tracks with the company’s Super X Performance surface.
 

Mondo Super X Performance track, the world’s top track for more than 30 years, will serve as the surface for the 2012 Big East Indoor Track & Field Championships Feb. 18-19 at the New Balance Track & Field Center at New York City’s 168th Street Armory Youth Center. Nine hundred track & field athletes from the United States’ Big East conference will compete in 20 men’s events and 19 women’s events. Teams contending for the conference title include DePaul, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Syracuse and University of Connecticut.

From February 16th - 19th, the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona will host the eight best teams in Spanish basketball for the 2012 edition of the King's Cup. For this special event, the Catalan city is home for the first time since 1986, of the events.  Athens Mondo backstops were installed, the same that will be used at the Basketball Arena in London for the Olympic Games this summer, They have been used in recently in the Euroleague Final Four as well as in many international championships. These backstops were designed and developed by Mondo with the best technologies available, which includes research in strength and stiffness to ensure the maximum security and stability.

Saturday, February 18th and Sunday, February 19th the event at Palalottomatica Rome with the Final Four Del Monte Italy A1 Cup 2011/2012. The star, along with the four finalists (Lube Banca Marche Macerata, Casa Modena, Diatec Itas Trentino, Belluno Sisley), on the tricolor Mondo court, now a symbol of all the main events of the Italian volleyball. In addition, the Gallo d'Alba company  will offer its support for the entire duration of the event, dealing with logistics, installation, and finally the perfect positioning of the dismantling of the Mondoflex Performance Tricolor court. In advance of the Olympics Games in London for which Mondo will be committed to ensuring the smooth running of of competitions on all its floors, first the athletics track, with service and support 24 hours, ready to meet any issues that might arise during the event. A composite crew, twice in size of the previous edition, will oversee the performance of the perfect Olympic Games.

On Friday, February 24th there will be ceremony to name the new pitch A after Agostino Di Bartolomei, the never to be forgotten champion and captain of Roma who died prematurely on May 30, 1994.

It has been concluded the championship UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 with the victory of Spain, for the fourth consecutive time has become the European champions. The Iberians have only defeated in overtime the Russian national, which was ahead by one goal with just 34 seconds left to the end of regulation time. The final result was 3-1, the same with to which Italy has beat Croatia at Split Arena, before an excited audience, winning the bronze. The Croatian edition of the European Championship was marked by strong emotions, with so many goals and a large audience. With a touch of pride we recall that Mondo has provided the Fast Break System 2 Laminated flooring as well as ports and networks, for buildings which have all hosted the games, the Arena Zagreb and Split Arena.

Among 12 teams competing for the cup, Spain, the official defending champion, was the first team with Slovenia, to take the field last night at the Zagreb Arena.

Slovenia did not make it easy but Spain ensured they opened UEFA Futsal EURO 2012 Group B with victory, looking now for a fourth straight title.

Today, Feb 1st, will be the turn of Italy, winner of the edition of 2003, with its team having gone through 2011 unbeaten, against newcomers Turkey in Group C, this group including also Russia.

For the event, Mondo proudly provided its Fast Break System 2 Laminated flooring as well as nets and goals and ports in both halls where the matches take place, i.e. the great Arenas of Split and Zagreb.

To have access to all pictures and videos posted on the official UEFA website, please click here.

To view the full schedule of games you can click here.

There was also Arrigo Sacchi encounter Spain - Italy Under-17 Championship held last week in Llanes in Asturias. The two teams of young players challenged each other on the field with monofibres 3NX installed by Mondod. This is the first in Asturias certified by the Spanish Federation and it is no coincidence that the Italian coach, guest of honor, in defining the benefits of synthetic turf has used an adjective that leaves no room for doubt: "Outstanding!"

The day has arrived. The test events for the  Indoor World Championship 2012 will take place January 27- 29th. These rehearsals serve  to warm up  the engines waiting for the 2012 World Championships in Athletics to be held in Turkey. Once again, the protagonists of the scene are the tracks provided by Mondo, as well as, the necessary equipment, screens and stands.

The Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC will face off in the Texas A&M Mondo Challenge this weekend, with two schools representing each league in the two-day, scored competition.
The A&M Challenge promises to be one of the strongest meets of the 2012 indoor season, with almost all of the teams being Top 25 ranked!

Representing the Big 12 at the meet, which begins Friday, will be Texas A&M and Texas Tech. The SEC counters with Florida and Tennessee. The Pac 12 rounds out the field with squads from Arizona State and Oregon.

At the 2011 competition, 13 meet records were set while the Big 12 (Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Texas Tech) defeated the SEC (Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina) in both the men's and women's competitions.
 

The 2010 UEFA European Futsal Championship finals and the UEFA Futsal Cup 2011 were two important events that put on display not only the quality of teams competing but the surface in which the games were played, a surface designed by Mondo .

The date is Saturday, December 3, 2011, at 14:30.
Place? The field of Trigoria.
And the teams in the competition? The Primavera of AS Roma and Bari
The turf on which to run and chase you relentlessly shoes tireless heroes of our youth is one of three synthetic grass, approved DBS Professional, developed by MONDO.
The surface of the field is done with the new 3NX fiber, designed in the research center of Gallo d'Alba, where the famous sports flooring and running tracks were created ... Mondo.

In a BBC interview, Usain Bolt has confirmed his intention to end his track career at the 2017 World Championships in London, when he was 31.
"If the Olympics go well, then surely I will continue - Bolt said -. It will be nice to compete in one last World Championship and then retire to London. We will see. "The athlete added that if he competes in London in 2017, it will be only in the 200m.

The Samsung Diamond League has announced the dates of the events planned for 2012. The third season of this prestigious competition will take place in stages in the same places that have hosted races in 2011: Doha (Qatar, 11/05), Shanghai (19/05), Rome (31/05), Eugene (USA, 2 / 06), Oslo (7 / 06), New York (9 / 06), Paris (6 / 07), London (13 and 14.7), Monte Carlo (20/07), Stockholm (17/08), Lausanne (23/08), Birmingham (26/08), Zurich (30/08), Brussels (7 / 09).

It's official: Mondo will be the supplier of the track and field facilities for the XIV World Indoor Championships
The Championships will be held in Istanbul from March 9-10, 2012.It is another opportunity to try all
Alba's organizational strength and formidable performance of its products!

The Ape Nursery-Tau and its designers studio Atelier2 won the second prize for contemporary architecture of the Ludwig Foundation of the Uberti, who this year had as its theme the architecture created in municipalities seriously affected by the earthquake in Abruzzo. The award ceremony will take place on December 5, at noon, in the museum MAXXI in Rome, where it will have an exhibition of the winning projects. For information and details: www.fondazioneludovicodegliuberti.it.

The IAAF Council meeting in Monte Carlo has decided which cities will host the four Competitions of the IAAF World Athletics Series in 2014. Copenhagen will host the World Half Marathon Championships, Marrakech will host the Continental Cup (13 and 14 September 2014), Eugene, Oregon in the United States, will host the Junior World Championships, Sopot, Poland, will host the World Indoor Championships.

The IAAF Council has announced it will host in London in 2017, the sixteenth edition of the World Championships. The British capital beat off competition from Doha. Recalling that in 2013 Moscow will host this important event and in 2015 Beijing.
"We fought hard to make this stage remain an athletic stadium, and now we can all agree that this will happen; going from 85 to 25,000 seats would have made a stage too small, now we will have 60,000 seats and I'm very happy, " said IAAF President Diack Lamie talking about the future of the Olympic Stadium in London, which will host the Olympics in 2012 and 2017 World Championships.

The multi-purpose clinic "The three angels for life" with the leader Architect Joan Di Virgilio, won second prize in the "Works" Award of Ludovico degli Uberti. This is a building with PVC materials on the walls and red pixels PT Compact Red floor, both produced by Mondo.

Usain Bolt and Sally Pearson were awarded Athlete of the Year 2011 during the traditional IAAF World Athletics Gala, held in Monte Carlo. For the the third time the Jamaican sprinter wins the prize, while it was the first time for the Australian champion in the 100m hurdles. The other finalists were Yohan Blake and David Rudish for  the men, and Valerie Adams and Vivian Cheruiyot for the  women.

Waiting for the World Athletics Gala 2011, the Council of the IAAF, chaired by the President Lamine Diack, met in Monte Carlo to analyze the progress of the venues that will host the upcoming IAAF World Athletics Series competitions. The first event in chronological order is the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul scheduled from March 9-11, 2012 in the new Atakoy Athletics Arena. May 12-13 in Saransk (Russia) will be held  the 25th of the World Race Walking Cup in Barcelona, July 10 to 15, the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic, will be played in the World Junior Championships. 2012 is also the year when we celebrate the centenary of the IAAF (July 17, 2012). To celebrate the event, the Council decided that Barcelona will host November 24, 2012 a special edition of the annual International Athletics Foundation Gala, as well as, a series of events around the city for the IAAF. The Gala will be an opportunity to present the IAAF Centenary Book, written and edited by historian and statistician Mel Watman together with industry experts such as Roberto Quercetani, David Miller and Alain Billouin. In addition, during the evening will be announced the names of the first athletes who will inducted into the IAAF Hall of Fame. The IAAF Council also discussed the progress of the current work in Moscow for the 14th edition of the World Championships in Athletics, to be held at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex Stadium in the Russian capital  August 10-18, 2013.

After the Boston Marathon, the Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai has also won the 42nd edition of the New York Marathon with a time of 2:05:06, a new record. Second place in the marathone went to another Kenyan Mutai Emmanule, while the third went to the Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede. Among women, success for the Ethiopian Nut Firehiwot in 2:23:15, ahead of compatriot at the finish line and Deba Buzunesh Kenyan Mary Keitany. Success for Alex Zanardi hand bikes in the category. The marathon was attended by about 47,000 people from 23 nations.

Friday, November 11, 2011, the All Star Volleyball match will be staged at Monza Palalper between the Italian national team, coached by Mauro Berruto and a selection of samples of Major League Volleyball. For the national team is an important test to address a few hours before leaving for Japan where he will play the FIVB World Cup, the first chance to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. This edition of the All Star is dedicated to the memory of Marcello Gabana, President of Water Paradise Monza Brianza, who two years ago, on November 14, 2009, lost his life along with his pilot in plane crash. The All Star Volleyball will be played on the court manufactured by Mondo with a flag made ​​of Mondoflex performance, the same surface that was used for the Italian Super Cup, which was played in Cagliari a few days prior.

First victory in the World Super Cup Itas Diatec Trentino, in a PalaRockefeller exhausted, defeated Cagliari Cuneo Bre Banca Lannutti 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 25-20). The team has taken on the Radon Stoytchev rematch of last season's Super Cup, held in Turin at the end of a match played at the highest levels. Best player of the competion was awarded to Jan Stokr.

Italian Super Cup Winners

1996 Traco Cuneo Alpitour
1997 Casa Modena Unibon
1998 Sisley Treviso
1999 TNT Alpitour Cuneo
2000 Sisley Treviso
2001 Sisley Treviso
2002 Noicom Brebanca Cuneo
2003 Sisley Treviso
2004 Sisley Treviso
2005 Sisley Treviso
2006 Lube Banca Marche Macerata
2007 Sisley Treviso
2008 Lube Banca Marche Macerata
2009 CoprAtlantide Piacenza
2010 Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo
Itas 2011 Trentino Diatec

Mondo will be the official sponsor of the 2011 Super Cup of volleyball, held in Cagliari on November 1st. The Diatec Itas Trentino and Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo will compete on the the famous surface Mondo Performance Tricolore, which was inaugurated in 2008 with the All Star Volleyball played at Monza in the Italian national team selection and a "Rest of the World" with the best player of the Series A1. From the 2009/10 season the Tricolore surface has become a symbol of the team champion of Italy, starting from Piacenza and passing last season from Cuneo to PalaTrento installed this year. This surfaces also accompanies all the events of Volleyball League A.

Mondo will attend on November 1, 2011 Super Volleyball, providing and installing PalaRockfeller of Cagliari to the classic tri-color court. In a single match, competitive and extremely fascinating, the two teams that will compete in the 2010/2011 season have won the Scudetto and Italian Cup volleyball A1: the Diatec Itas Trentino and Bre Banca Lannutti Cuneo. In green, white and red Italian flag, surrounded by the typical blue color uniforms of the national disciplines, the surface created by the Gallo d'Alba is the ideal stage for the consecration of the challenge "national" that there is. A stage that can also rely on expertise and support of Mondo that will be offered for the duration of the event, such as taking care of logistics, installation, and finally the perfect  dismantling of the court flag.
The field flag is made Mondoflex Performance, a sports flooring consists of a surface layer made ​​of natural and synthetic rubber, finely textured, flexible substrate coupled with closed cell foam, reinforced with armor. The surface ensures top performance and the ultimate in physical protection for the  players.  Dut to its technical features that can facilitate the detachment in elevation and the damping rate of relapse, the "tricolor" Mondo provides added shock absorption because of the special elastic deformation it undergoes upon impact.

The Briton Mo Farah is the winner of the 2011 edition of the European Athlete of the Year Award presented by Mondo. What is about to end is an outstanding year for him. In February he set the record in Birmingham in the European indoor 5,000 m with 13:10.60; in March, he defended his title on the 3000 meters at the Indoor Athletics Championships in Paris; in June has made ​​the European record in the 10,000 m with 24:46.57, ran in July 5000 on the record of the year m 12:53:11, the second fastest time ever and the European national record. The apex of his extraordinary year was the gold medal in the 5000m at the World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, where he managed to bring to Europe the world title in this discipline after waiting almost twenty years.  In second place  in the European Athletes of the Year was  sprinter Frenchman Christophe Lemaitre  and third was another Briton, the 400m hurdles world champion David Greene.

Today, 19th october, starts Euroleague 2011-2012, the teams participants are 24.

Saturday, October 15th turns the spotlight on Arona (Tenerife) for the European Athletics Awards Night, a gala evening in which the European Athletics celebrates itself by rewarding the champions who have distinguished themselves in 2011. For the third consecutive year Mondo will be  "Presenter" of the event, thereby renewing a strong partnership between the two realities which has always been committed to the promotion of the continental athletics throughout the world. Through the organization of major sporting events, the last of which was the World Championships in Athletics held in late August 2011in Daegu, where Mondo  provided both the track and equipment. "The European Athletics Awards Night is a real celebratory evening during which the major European track & field stars gather to celebrate. Linking our name to this event we are particularly honored, "said Maurizio Stroppiana, President of the World. Visit the website of the European Athletics Association where you can find more information on the athlete of the year award!

The IAAF has announced the names of 20 athletes (10 men, 10 women) candidates for the World Athletes of the Year Award. The selection was made by a group of eight experts from the IAAF athletics. The vote, by members the IAAF Council and IAF, Federations of the IAAF, Committees and Commissions of the IAAF, IAAF Meeting of Directors, IAAF Ambassadors, Representatives of the IAAF athletes, top athletes, members of the international press and staff members IAAF will continue until midnight on Sunday, October 23. Following the collection of votes  three men and three women finalists will be selected. The Council of the International Athletic Foundation will select the athletes and winners will be announced on November 12th during the annual World Athletics Gala. The 10 male candidates are: Yohan Blake (Jamaica), Usain Bolt (Jamaica), Mo Farah (Great Britain), Robert Harting (Germany), Kirani James (Grenada), Patrick Makau (Kenya), Koji Murofushi (Japan), David Rudish (Kenya), Christian Taylor (USA), Jesse Williams (USA).
The 10 women candidates are: Mary Abakumov (Russia), Valerie Adams (New Zealand), Veronica Campbell Brown (Jamaica), Tatyana Chernova (Russia), Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya), Anna Chicherova (Russia), Lashinda Demus (USA) Carmelita Jeter (USA), Amantle Montsho (Botswana), Sally Pearson (Australia).

The English champion in the long jump J.J. Jegede is a great show, performing in three Mini jump at the London launch of the 2012 BMW car, which took place at the Potter's Field in London. The three cars lined up measured about 6 feet in length; Jegede jumped without a safety net and little margin for error. If you think that normally the jump of a world-class athlete measuring 7 to 8 meters. To allow the athlete to have the right platform and the elevation of the pit with sand was placed at the same height of the roof of the Mini, and the platform was built with Mondotrack 13 mm, a material specifically designed to achieve high performance, was placed free-standing down the 35m runway, .
Click to view the video

The Russian Mariya Savinova athlete, world champion in the 800 meters, is the winner of the the 2011 European Athlete of the Year an award presented by Mondo. This is the fourth Russian athlete to win it, after Irina Privalova, Yelena Isinbayeva and Svetlana Masterkova. During the past year, Mariya Savinova, 26, has only lost one of ten races in whichshe  has participated in, among the outstanding victories was the finals of the World Championships in Athletics in Daegu with her personal best time (1:55.87)> In addition to winning the SPAR European Team Championships in Stockholm and the final of the Diamond League in Zurich. The top three champions of the prize is all the world  include Russia's  Mariya Abakumov and Anna Chicherova in second and third.
 

The British athlete Jodie Williams is the winner of of the 2011 European Athletics Rising Star Award, presented by Mondo. The junior world champion, won the 100 meters final at the European Junior Athletics Championships in Tallinn, held in July, with a time of 11.18.  Records of the national junior championships and leadership. Just 24 hours after the final 100 meters, was complete and she also won the final of the 200 m, with a seasonal best time, 22.94. The 18 year-old British athlete went on during the 4x100 m helping his team win the bronze medal at the Kadriorg Stadium in the capital of Estonia. In second place in the rankings for the award of the Netherlands was ranked Daphne Schippers, followed by Russian and Swedish Darya Klishina Angelica Bengtsson

David Storl, the reigning shot put world champion, is the winner of the 2011 European Athletics Rising Star Award, presented by Mondo. The German athlete won the gold medal at the recent World Championships in Athletics in Daegu with the measurement of 21.78 m. In second place was Paweł Wojciechowski, the world champion in the pole vault, one third of the 100 Junior European Champion runner-up in me, Daegu, French Vicaut Jimmy. The European Athletics Rising Star is an award that has existed since 2007 and is awarded to athletes under 23.

Recently held in London was one of the highlights of all the pre-Olympic period, the official presentation of the track to be used for all track and field events in the 2012 London Olympics. The best British athletes and children of the local school West Ham Church Primary School in Newham were able to see and test the track produced by Mondo - Mondotrack FTX, laid in August 2011. "This is a milestone for us - Seb Coe commented, Chairman of LOCOG - seeing the Olympic Stadium come to life is very exciting. Then to see the best British athletes out on the track with the children of a school gives a good idea of the role that this facility will have after 2012. "Red, combined with the gray color for the outer areas, with a dimension out of the ordinary, with a total area of 16,000 square meters, the track affects mainly for its technical specifications, 2008 in Beijing contributed to the achievement of less than 38 records among the world's Olympic and continent category, without regard to the various personal records. With a thickness of about 13.5 mm, Mondotrack surfaces is one of the world's fastest and has been certified to ensure the highest level in the classification of surfaces suitable to host the Olympics and Paralympics (Level 1). "It's been 34 years from our first participation, Montreal 1976 - said Maurizio Stroppiana, Managing Director of Mondo SpA - Still the emotion it elicits to see our beautiful track installed in the place where the Olympic Games will take place is always greater than that previously experienced. "

The 38th edition of the Berlin Marathon saw the Kenyan Patrick Makau beat the world record,which belonged to Haile Gebreselassie  the Cushite, with a time of 2:03:38. It was a real triumph for Kenya, which finished second with Stephen and Edwin Chemlani Kimaiyo finished third in the men's race, and Florence Kiplagat won the women's trial with a time of 2:19:44.

For the third consecutive year, the EAA has chosen MONDO as the sole partner of the European Athletics Awards, a gala evening in which European athletics celebrates itself by awarding champions who have excelled in 2011.

Sunday, September 18th Arena on the track in Milan will challenge athletes from 30 nations, including 15 winners of a medal in the last World Championships in Athletics in Daegu. Among the athletes expected is certainly David Rudish, the world champion of 800 m, which will attempt to beat the world record he achieved ​​in 2010: the goal is to get under 1'41 "01. In the same competition will present the Polish Marcin Lewandoski, fourth in Daegu, and the Italians Mario Scapini and Giordano Benedetti. The spotlight is also on the South African Oscar Pistorius, who has managed this year to participate in the world in the 400 m able-bodied of Daegu There will be a lot of Italy in the Arena, from Antonietta Di Martino, bronze medal in Daegu in the high jump, triple jumper Simona La Mantia and. Among the most anticipated races of the challenge men's 100 meters, with the presence of the four blue baton, came in fifth at the World Championships 4x100: Di Gregorio, Collio, Tumi and Cerutti. In the same race eyes will turn to two other Italians, and Riparelli Galvan, and the French Pognon, who has a personal best of 9 "98. Italy still a lot of women in the 400 m, with the girls 4x400, that the world almost came in the final, and in the 800 meters, where it waits for a big test of Marta Milani. The athletes will race on the  Mondo Sportflex SX 12mm Classic track , who is also sponsoring the event.

Friday, September 16th the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels hosts the 35th edition of the Memorial Van Damme, the last act of the  2011 Diamond League. The meet, which takes place annually in late summer, always sees the participation of the best athletes in the world and has recorded over the years a world record. Many are veterans from  Daegu World Championships in Athletics were present at the meeting.  In addition to Usain Bolt, David Rudish is expected (gold medal in the 800 m), Ibrahim Jeilan (gold in the 10,000 m), Blanka Vasic, Milcah Chemosh Kevin and his brother Jonathan Borlée, Oscar Pistorius and many others. As with the  Daegu Stadium,  the King Baudouin Stadium is  Daegu equipped with a track produced by Mondo: Mondotrack FTX.

The 2011/2012 season of Italian football begins with a first for our country: a stadium owned by a football team. The new stadium for Juventus was the testing ground for the agreement signed with Mondo, whicht has become the Official Supplier of the New Stadium Juventus for the next 5 years. In particular, for the construction of the new facility, Mondo is providing 37,907 seats 9 Mondoseat model for the entire complex. The seats were constructed by placing great emphasis on strict international standards on safety, and are equipped with various devices to fight against tampering and vandalism for the safety of the athletes. In addition to the seats, the company has provided the Alba Surface (One and Decors) for the dressing rooms, warehouse, kindergartens, offices, local public safety and first aid, press offices, the media conference and the dining rooms Mondo has also provided the synthetic grass (Deco 11) for Merchandising and it covers the area between the foothills of the east side (NSF Mondoturf 15), for entry to the VIP area and the edge of the playing field (MondoLandscape).

Angelico Biella Basketball has chosen the 1,500 meters of beautiful Sauze d'Oulx in the Upper Susa Valley, the pre-season retreat. The team as a guest of Grand Hotel La Torre, has provided cutting-edge facilities (weight room, football field, the field of sand for beach volleyball, spa and indoor pool), including those inside the building of Sauze, recently installed by Mondo, include the basketball court @ @ @, with electronic billboards and basketball wall units.

The World Championships in Athletics in Daegu ended with the world record in the 4x100 quartet, achieved by Jamaican: Usain Bolt, Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake. These great sprinters finished the race with a time of 37 "04, beating the old record of 37" 10 set ​​at the Beijing Olympics. Silver medal went to France (38 "20) and bronze went to Saint Kitts and Nevis (38" 49). Good results for the Italian quartet, who finished fifth, which eventually made ​​the semi-finals would be on the podium. The in Daegu World Championships competitions were held on Mondo Sportflex Super X Performance.

The game of August 31, 2011, played at the Stadio Romeo Menti Castellammare di Stabiae, including Juventus and Verona Stabiae, not only marked the return of the bell in the Serie B team after 60 years of absence, but also in the onset of Mondo Series Italian B with its latest generation of synthetic turf Mondoturf NSF single-fiber 11 45 AE Star FTS. With the field of single-fiber Mondoturf NSF Romeo Minds has been FIFA 2 STAR certified in a very short time even though it was installed in 2009 and since then has received only routine maintenance. Castellammare di Stabiae field is the nineteenth Mondo field to have earned this prestigious certification, others are in Europe (Portugal, Greece, Holland, Cyprus, Germany and Finland), in Canada, New Caledonia and Morocco.

Less than a month from now is the beginning of the XIII World Athletics Championships in Daegu, the most important sporting event of 2011. From Saturday, August 27 to Sunday, September 4 more than 2,000 athletes from 200 teams, will compete for the world championships in front of viewers from around the world.  It will generate moments of great emotion and the highest level of competition.
In addition to the athletes, the main athletes of this prestigious sporting event, will be photographed many times and as well as the new  track Daegu Stadium Mondo Super X Performance.

For information and schedule of events visit the official website www.daegu2011.org or www.iaaf.org

It took place at the Olympic Stadium, in front of 7,200 spectators, the Athletics Meeting in Barcelona, ​​which has recorded four new records of the event and two of the best performances by European athletes. The records of the meet were achieved ​​by the Jamaican Yohan Blake in the U23 100m with a time of 10.6, Bulgaria's Vanya Stambolov in 400m hurdles with a time of 54.38, the Cuban Yariskey Silva in the pole vault with 466, the Russian Yekaterina Gorbunova , which has built both the 1500m record in European competition is the best performance of the year with a time of 4:01:02. The other European best performance of the year was that of the Kenyan Ilham Tanu, who runs for Turkey, in the 1500m with a time of 3:32.94.

Have been completed in Mayaguez (Puerto Rico) the CAC Championships first place in the medal count was achieved by Jamaica (10 golds, 6 silvers, 10 bronzes), which preceded Mexico (7,6,7) and Trinidad (6.3, 5). In total 17 nations won at least one medal. Challenges in the expectations between relays, Jamaica won the 4x100m 4x400m men and women, the Bahamas won the 4x400m men, while Trinidad was first in the 4x100m women.

The marathon in Rio de Janeiro, an event which was part of the fifth edition of World Military Games scheduled in the Brazilian city, was won by Frenchman Patrick Ngoi, who became the military world champion owith a time of 2:18:17. In the women's marathon success went to North Korean Kim Kum Ok, who in a time of 2:35:22 also won her the military world competition.

Oscar Pistorius has won during the 22 nd International Meeting of Lignano Sabbiadoro the time it takes to compete at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu and the 2012 Olympics in London. 45.07 With the South African athlete has achieved his personal best in the 400m. But bad news coming from France: the indoor world champion and world record holder in the triple jump, Teddy Tamgho, will be forced to miss the World Championships because of injury during the Under 23 European Championships in Ostrava.

He did it! The meeting "Sport Solidarity" in Lignano Oscar Pistorius has exceeded the minimum for some much-needed access to the London 2012 Olympic Games. The result is terrific. The athlete finished the 400 meters in 45 "07. In fact beating the Jamaicans Lancedord Spence (46 "23) and Mason (46" 50). The goal required to go to London is 45 "25, but Pistorius did even better. His talent is unquestionable, but we like to think that a little 'of the credit also goes to the reception and Italian Lignano fast track that saw him speeding like a rocket.

954 athletes from 47 countries confirmed their attendance to the European Junior Championships 2011 in Tallin. The event starts today at the historic Kadrioru stadium on a brand new IAAF class 2 certified Mondo track with Mondotrack product in the thickness of 14 mm, light and dark red colors.

The new state of Southern Sudan has been struggling against time to enter the list of countries that will participate in the 2012 London Olympics. The former British colony of Sudan, over the past 50 years has been plagued by famine, coup, terrorism and conflict between the northern (Muslim) and southern (Christian) in the country. After a peace agreement signed in 2005, following a civil war, the southern state gained independence through a referendum that enshrined the separation from the rest of the country. In order to have a National Olympic Committee, needed to participate in the Olympics, serve at least four national federations. Therefore, it is likely that the debut of Southern Sudan in the world of sport will occur with the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow in 2014.

The decision of the London football club Tottenham Hotspur to open legal proceedings against the verdict that awarded to another London team, West Ham, the possibility of detecting the British capital's Olympic Stadium Double Step Games of 2012 postponed to August and a ruling from the judges each case on the future of the plant. The uncertain future of the stadium could affect the probability that London is included among the candidate cities the World Championships in Athletics of 2017, as the IAAF will announce the official list on the 1st of September.

The 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics will be held in Pyeongchang. The Korean city beat the candidacies of French and German Annecy Monaco in the first round with 63 out of 95 votes available. The victory was celebrated by the Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-Na and the President of the Korean Olympic Committee, YS Park. This was the third attempt by the South Koreans, who had already participated and lost the 2010 Olympics, to Vancouver, and 2014, went to the Russian city of Sochi. It is the third time the Winter Olympics have been awarded to an Asian city.

Saturday, July 9th at the Meeting of Athletic Madrid the spotlight will focus on the Men's 100 m, for the competition between the former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin and the indoor world champion, Britain's Dwain Chambers. The fans at home will then concentrate on the women's 1,500 m, where two athletes will race in Spain: European Champion Nuria Fernandez and Natalia Rodriguez.

The Englishmen's decathlon team, with 22,989 points, won the First League in Brixen to qualify for the Super League. Belgium also promoted (2 ° 22 468). The three personal best results were those of the Swiss Walter Simon (7973) and British Daniel Awde (7889) and Ashley Bryant (7747). Nell'eptathlon promoted Poland (17,309) and Italy (17,050). Poland had the best athlete Tyminska Parolin (6297), followed by Hungarian Gyorgyi Farkas and Belarus Yana Maksimir.

Hurrah Juventus, the official journal of the Juventus team, is on the newsstands with an interesting interview with Maurizio Stroppiana president of Mondo Spa and Luigi Benedetto's CEO and managing director of Mondo Spa The Spa Mondofin company of Alba is in fact the official supplier of Juventus, which has developed and installed the seats allocated to the new stadium. An evocative geometric design, obtained using the contrast of black and white, trace the outlines of two samples, Gaetano Scirea and Michel Platini, who stand on the east grandstand, while on the north and south sides of the backs of the seats form the two stars badges. For this stadium, Mondo has not only provided the seats, but also the artificial turf on the sidelines and all resilient flooring, including the flooing of the locker rooms and gyms. Having contributed to this project "is a source of great pride - says Stroppiana to Hurrah  Juventus - because this is the most important project in Italy and among the most important in Europe." "Also - Benedetto adds a personal basis - the sentimental aspect is that, as far as I'm concerned, is very strong. Do you think that as a child, at the time of Sivori, Cuneo went to see the training of Juventus."

The Soccer Federation of the German region of Hesse (Hessischer Fussball-Verband, HFV) and the Mondo Track & Turf GmbH have signed an agreement for a period of three years. The meeting between President dell'HFV Rolf Hocke, vice-president for business and finance HFV Stefan Reuss, Sales Director of Track & Turf Onno Brenninkmeijer and Sales Manager for Southern Germany and Switzerland to the Mondo Track Turf & Weber GmbH Kai-Gemmel took place at the Sports Hotel Grünberg.

The contract, in addition to appropriate communication and delivery of informational seminars for associations, provides for the construction of infrastructure by the Mondo ultra modern synthetic grass in the place where stands the HFV.

"Mondo is very happy to have been selected as a supplier of synthetic grass by the HFV - Gemmel said Kai Weber--. This includes the task of restructuring the federation's most important plants with artificial turf system Mondoturf 3NX at the School for Sports Grünberg. Mondo is pleased to support the federation and its associate members in an advisory capacity. "

"We are delighted to have found a partner as competent and renowned in the field of synthetic turf - Rolf Hocke said -. All the more so because there will be the creation of a site with ultra modern artificial turf in Grünberg. This is an important step to ensure the quality of our training. "

Prada's collection for next spring-summer 2012, showed in Milan during the days of the men's fashion week, it was surely the most awaited of the second day.

It is set to be very interesting challenges to the Meeting Areva 2011, the eighth stage of the Samsung Diamond League, which will take place at the Stade de France in Paris on  July 8th. Usain Bolt in the 200 m along with the European champion Christophe Lemaitre and the young Jamaican Nickel Ashmead. In the 110 hurdles the challenge will be among the American David Oliver and world record holder, Cuban Dayron Robles. The race of 1,500 m will feature the Moroccan Amine Laalou and olympic gold medalist Ashbel Kiprop. There are great expectations for the 100 m women with Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kerron Stewart and Myriam Soumaré. The 800 m women, the challenge of winning two World Championships: Janet Jepkosgei and Caster Semenya. These are some of the most anticipated competitions taking place on the track Mondotrack FTX 13mm, produced by Mondo.  With 15,000 tickets already sold a month before the event, the organizers aim to fill the stadium with 50,000 spectators.

After renewing its partnership with the Piedmont Regional Committee FIDAL, Mondo is once again revealed as a sponsor of the International Athletics Meeting in Turin. Two important agreements that further strengthen the close relationship between the Gallo d'Alba company and Piedmont athletics. The twelfth edition of the "Memorial Primo Nebiolo", in fact, will take place on the mantle prefabricated Mondotrack SX generation, innovative material that last year has attracted praise from many athletes and coaches for his skills and performance, while of considerable comfort. The races will see the participation of prominent athletes, such as Simona La Mantia, European champion in Paris 2011 indoor triple jump, the hammer and Nicholas Vezzoni Dayron Robles, the Cuban Olympic champion in the 110 hurdles (2008) and World champion of the 60 hurdles (2010 ).

The football field of Behrn Arena in Orebro, Sweden, created by Mondo Luxembourg, has been certified FIFA 2 STAR. The old synthetic turf has been replaced with a new one: single-fiber Mondoturf NSF 3NX.

The Regent Street Festival is the biggest event on the street that takes place in central London, after the Notting Hill Carnival. For the second consecutive year, the Sports Zone Basketball has seen the contribution of the surface Mondocourt. The World team is put to work right from the four in the morning on Sunday, June 5th to deliver a few hours after a 6x6 and 10x12 m area that hosted challenges teams of 3 players.  In addition to the performance were public cheeleaders. Fun events like this will accompany the months prior to the beginning of the London 2012 Olympics and once again showcase the presence of Mondo as the official supplier.
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On May 15th, the tennis Championships and Rome Internazionali BNL concluded and celebrated the new champion: Nole Djokovic. The final challenge saw a Serbian athlete beat Nadal with a score of 64 64 in 2 hours and 12 minutes. Queen Maria Sharapova of tennis instead. The beautiful Siberian triumphed with a mix of power, class and determination that made ​​landfall as a hurricane against Samantha Stosur in the final game.
The podium that is seen crowning the new heroes of the BNL International Championships of tennis is that of the Centre Court at the Foro Italico in Rome. A facility which the world are envy of. During the event, the Centre has made itself heard again, as had happened in the previous edition. This stadium is "the Colosseum of tennis," Djokovic said in a press release, while Nadal has even called "the most beautiful stadium in the world."

Rehearsal for the Olympics started Monday, May 30th  on the streets of London, thanks to the athletes who have tested the proposed routes for the marathon and walking competitions to be held in London  2012.  Taking advantage of the feast day (Monday was bank holiday in London) many Londoners  had a taste of what will be the excitement that the Olympics will bring to town in August next year. The five scheduled events on the streets of the British capital (male and female marathon, 20 km of driving men and women, 50 km of driving men) will be held in Central London and finish inThe Mall. Recall that the athletics competitions in London in 2012, of which Mondo is the official supplier, will be held August 3rd to 12th, 2012.

ASD di Montesilvano C/5  are the new Futsal Cup European champions. The result didn't left any doubts: 5 to 2. ASD Città di Montesilvano has defeated the Sporting Clube de Portugal at Almaty and it has become Futsal European Champion playing on a Mondo flooring.

MONDO is once again proud Sponsor of the 2010/2011 UEFA Futsal Cup Finals.
Kairat Almaty and the Football Federation of Kazakhstan (KFF) are going to host the 2010/11 UEFA Futsal Cup finals to be staged at the Baluan Sholak Sport Palace of Almaty, Kazakhstan.
 

The Exhibition La bella Italia - Art and Identity of the capital cities - presented at the Venaria Reale on occasion of the Celebrations for the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy, increased its treasures with great masterpieces of Parmigianino, Velazquez and Bernini and the first editions of the poems of Ariosto and Tasso.

Turin, Italy - Saturday, 19th March 2011, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, the New National Museum of Automotive of Turin has been inaugurated by President Giorgio Napolitano. The museum, dedicated to Giovanni Agnelli, reopens its doors after four years of renovation and expansion.
 

Paris, France – 6th March 2011, at the end of the three-day event of the European Indoor Championships, the French athlete Taddy Tamgho set another World indoor record in the Triple Jump at the Palais Omnisport Paris-Bercy.

On the prestigious Londoner journal has been published last Thursday an article about our company, both online and as printed version.

The article results from the interview of the Italian correspondent of Business & Finance, David Lane, with Maurizio Stroppiana, President and CEO of Mondo SpA.

Herat, Afghanistan – Saturday, 26th February 2011, in occasion of a special Peace Match, a new Mondo football field realized with Mondoturf has been inaugurated.
The field has been donated from the ACAI (Association of Italian actors soccer player) to the local population and to the Italian soldiers stationed in Herat.

Sunday 20th February 2011 - Aubière, France - Last weekend during the French National Indoor Championships held in Aubière on a Mondo indoor permanent track Teddy Tamgho of France – with 17.91m - improved his own World indoor record in the Triple Jump, adding one centimeter to the record set during the World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar in March 2010.

Mondo, announced that six Mondoturf fields in Quebec, Canada, have received the prestigious Recommended 2Star designation by FIFA, the world governing body for soccer.

The six fields are at Argenteuil Multisport Centre in Lachute, College d’Alma in Alma, de la Voie Maritime Park in Saint-Lambert, Jean-Yves Phaneuf Park in Granby, Polyvalente Hyacinthe-Delorme school in Saint-Lambert, and Sherbrooke University in Sherbrooke. Mondo now has seven FIFA Recommended 2 Star fields in North America and nine worldwide.

Daegu, Korea – On 17th December the new track of the Daegu Stadium, realized by Mondo, has been inaugurated. The Stadium will host the IAAF World Championships Daegu 2011 from 27th August to 4th September.

Monte Carlo - David Rudisha (KEN) and Blanka Vlasic (CRO) were named the Male and Female World Athletes of the Year for 2010, IAAF President Lamine Diack announced on Sunday 21 November.

The Italian company, supplier to the next Olympic Games in London in 2012, has signed the New Stadium Official Supplier agreement of Juventus Football Club.
The agreement, signed this week by the CEO of Juventus, Jean Claude Blanc, and the president of Mondo SpA, Maurizio Stroppiana, foresees a synergy between the two parties for a period of 5 years.

For the second consecutive year, the EAA has chosen MONDO as the sole partner of the European Athletics Awards, a gala evening in which European athletics celebrates itself by awarding champions who have excelled in 2010.

Signatures have been added to an agreement giving MONDO S.p.A. the majority interest in Metaltecnica Venelli Srl, a historical firm of the Como area, specialised in seating for stadiums and indoor arenas.

Mondo is proud to announce that 12 of its contract flooring have been certified with Blue Angel label, the first and oldest environment-related label for products and services in the world.

At last evening’s the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Rieti, Kenyan David Rudisha, reduced the World 800m record to 1:41.01.
Rudisha went through 600 metres in the lead in 1:14.56 and continued to push the pace with his smooth stride. His run in the final straight was a triumphal race against the clock.

Turkey, 28th August – 12th September

Mondo will be part of the biggest basketball event of the year, providing sport flooring, basketball and electronic equipment for all 5 Turkish venues hosting the Championship, and managing all installation and dismantling operations.
 

Mondo is proud to announce that AENOR (Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación) awarded UNE 166002:2006 certification to MONDO TUFTING S.A., Mondoturf production site in Saragoza.
 

MONDO TUFTING S.A. is the first company in artificial turf business area that achieves this certification, that guarantees the quality of R&D activities and textile technologies for synthetic fibers installed in artificial fields.

Mondo is the Official Products and Service Supplier of the event.
Close to 1500 athletes coming from 170 countries worldwide will compete at the Championships.

First buildings ready in Thailand provinces hit by the 2004 tsunami

Less then one month to go until the European Athletics Championships, the Spanish athletes visited first the Montjuïc Stadium, giving all enthousiastic comments to the new track.

Also this year Mondo reaffirm its presence as Sponsor to the meeting that will be held in Rieti from the 24th  to the 26th of June.
The participation to the event confirm the great attention that our company always dedicate to the hospital environment, not only from the technical point of view but also from the aesthetic point of view; Mondo in fact engages itself constantly  in order to improve the technical characteristics of it's own products and for implementing its own range with useful solutions for the usage of colours in therapeutic environments.
the example is the innovative flooring system Mondo Idea of which you will be able to find information on our Internet site

The Daf Chemi Service Montesilvano conquest its first shield imposing to Marca Futsal from Venezia the first defeat of the year.

For Montesilvano is the second title, after winning the Italian Championship in 2007. The society of the president Antonio Iervolino, has been rewarded with this shocking success after years of serious engagement and hard work.

Contest match 1 it has been carried out to Montesilvano in province of Pescara and has been played on a new Zetasystem wooden flooring installed from our company during the intense activities of renovation of the Palaroma sport hall; the rearrangement took place last year, for the Mediterranean Games.
The Montesilvano team has always played on Mondo flooring: before the intense activities of renovation of the Palaroma, the team used to train and play its matches on Mondoflex.

Many have been the positive comments on the new wooden flooring, both from the athletes and from the trainers and with great satisfaction now our company congratulate the team on the great victory!

For the renovation of the Palaroma Mondo it has supplied also the goals, the Fenix scoreboard and the seating fro the whole sport hall (Mondoseat 1).

An agreement between LOCOG - the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games 2012 - and Mondo S.p.A. was signed, making the Italian firm the “Official Supplier for Sport Flooring and Equipment” for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mondo will be the Official Provider both of the surface and of all equipment of the event that will take place in Paris, from 7th to 9th May

In the elegant setting of the Triennale at the Milan Furniture Fair, MONDO presents “DECOLORFUL”, a 200 mq installation which has been designed along with the materials by Aldo Cibic in collaboration with Tommaso Corà and has been entirely created using products from the new Mondo Idea collection.

DECOLORFUL is a true artistic interpretation by one of the most important designers in Italy who playing with the endless graphical and chromatic variations that Mondo Idea, the new made in MONDO rubber flooring, creates an installation made unique by the different perceptive images it offers to its visitors.

“We wanted to create a landscape with a strong symbolic content based on the contrast between volumes and colour, which are perceived differently at different times of the day as the light changes - commented Aldo Cibic. The installation evokes a metaphysical landscape because the five volumes placed in the area with their different proportions create a suspended effect: the tunnel, the chimney, the tank, the cylinder and the column create a warm sensorial experience. We wanted to work on a real De Chirico landscape on a near true-to-life scale and see how the application of motifs could change our perception of the whole scene.”
 

Mondo will represent Italy at FIBA World Championships, in August in Turkey. The company will provide both playing surfaces and equipment and electronic scoreboards, further to seating and tribunes for more than 15,000 supporters.

The event will take place on the new Fast Break System 2 Wood, the innovative wooden slabs flooring system specifically design for top level competitions.
Baskets will be scored in Mondo Athens backborad units and the video screen system Pegasus will show the score to the audience.

With this important supply, MONDO confirms its presence on International basketball fields, as during the last Eurolaugue edition and Beijing 2008 Olympics.
 

Mondo, the company from Gallo d’Alba, Italy, has been selected as Official Supplier of the main and warm up tracks and the equipment for the upcoming IAAF World Indoor Championships which will be held in Doha, Qatar from 12 to 14 March.

The Russian National Championships ended with a new world record at 4x800 m: Moscow team composed of Tatyana Andrianova, Oksana Spasovkhodskaya, Yelena Kofanova, Yevgeniya Zinurova clocked 8:12.41 to establish the first world indoor record of 2010 considering IAAF events.

The final matches of the European Futsal Championships will take place on 30rd January in Debrecen, Hungary.

Both the Papp Laslo Sportarena in Budapestand the Fonix Arena in Debrecen have been equipe with Mondo Futsal System, specifically designed in cooperation with UEFA, the first Federation to pioneer the use of a black pitch in an indoor major continental event.

The innovative surface received good feedbacks from players, who confirmed that the black color did not cause any problem and it was easy to play on it.

Just a little time left to see who will lift the trophy.
 

MONDO recently installed the highest football field in Europe, at CAR Sierra Nevada (High Performance Sports Center in Sierra Nevada), at 2,320 m above sea level.

Monte-Carlo – During the celebrations of the World Athletics Gala hosted by International Athletic Foundation (IAF) Honorary President HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and IAF & IAAF President Lamine Diack in the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté, 23-year-old Jamaican Usain Bolt and USA’s 24-year-old Sanya Richards were crowned as the Male and Female World Athletes of the Year 2009.

Mondo was proud to be present once again as Official Sponsor of the event.

The world-wide Athletics family will gather for yet another prestigious celebration when the 2009 World Athletics Gala is held at the Salle des Etoiles of the Sporting Club d’Eté.

After having successfully hosted the 22nd SEA Games in 2003, Vietnam confidently plays the role of the third Asian Indoor Games organizer in 2009. Again, Vietnam is determined to excellently host this large scale Games to make it the most memorable sport event with the Asian culture and oriental style.

FSB, Cologne - The IAKS (International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities) and FIBA, with the sponsorship of Molten, Champion, Mondo and Senoh, have organised a joint Architectural Students Competition for the second time after 2002.
 

Mondo has just signed an agreement to supply materials for the next three editions of the Euroleague Final Four, starting with the event to be held in Paris during May 2010.

Triple Jump world champion Briton Phillips Idowu and 3000m steeplechase world champion Marta Domínguez were presented with the 2009 European Athlete of the Year Awards during the second European Athletics Convention, in Budapest on Saturday night.

Mondo will be the main sponsor of the European Athletics Award Night in Budapest, on 17^th October.

During this prestigious gala night, a number of awards will be presented to reward the best of European Athletics. Hansjörg Wirz, President of European Athletics, adds: “We are very happy to have Mondo on our side for this event. They are a committed partner and their tracks and equipment help our athletes achieve their best performances.”

Mondo will be the Official Supplier of the futsal fields of the European Futsal Championhsips 2010.

Threefold Olympic champion in Beijing, Usain Bolt, and threefold world champion in Osaka in 2007, Tyson Gay, will be competing on the 100m on Friday September 4th - in the Koning Boudewijn stadium during the 33rd Belgacom Memorial Van Damme.

Mondo announced that the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute has awarded the GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification to 10 of its rubber flooring surfaces.

The MONDO INDOOR SPORT surfaces that received certification are Mondoflex, Ramflex, Sportflex, Sportflex Super X and Advance (US market's product).

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. – May 12, 2009 – Mondo announced that the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute has awarded the GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification to 10 of its rubber flooring surfaces.

The contract flooring products that received certification are Geode, Futura, Punti and Natura and Terranova (US market's products).

MONDO is proud to announce that the new football pitch installed at the Michalis Kritikopoulos Municipal Stadium in Athens, Greece with MONDOTURF MONOFEEL AS60 has been certified FIFA 1 STAR.

FIFA Certificatewill be valid until July 15th, 2012
 

The Circuito Permanente de Jerez, worldwide famous racing circuit, located in the city of Jerez de la Frontera, has been equipped with Mondo Landscape Grass.
The Circuit, that hosts both Formula One and Moto GP events, was renewed in May, substituting the natural grass of the escape areas near the curves with Mondoturf Landscape Grass.

Mondo is proud to announce that the football pitch installed at the Finnair Stadium in Helsinki, Finland and the one at the Behrn Arena in Örebro, Sweden have been successfully certified FIFA 2 STAR for the fourth time.

Both pitches were realized with the Mondoturf systems filled with Ecofill and this important certification confirms the durability and the performances of Mondo artificial turf systems.

Narita Express called "N'EX" provides rapid, frequent, and comfortable service to passengers traveling between Narita International Airport and Tokyo Metropolitan areas.

The wide range of Mondo surfaces allowed Mr. Yasutaka Suge ,ex president of GK Industrial Desig, to play with the flooring surface, reproducing the Japanese traditional pattern called 'ICHIMATSU' (checkers) adopted for seats, curtain and wall, too.

Mondo Idea Transport surfaces can transform a treading surface into an integral part of vehicle’s interior design, allowing for a level of personalization not yet seen in the transport sector.

Mondo Landscape Grass made its début at Expo Zaragoza 2008. Different types of products were installed at the Manierismo Rococó Square, the Ice Museum and on the roundabout in front of the Spanish Pavilion.

Mondo will be the Official Supplier of the main and warm-up tracks for the 2010 Asian Games which will take place in Guangzhou (CHN) from the 12th to the 27th of November 2010.

The Italian Men Volley league has decided to assign the new Mondo three-colored field to the National Champions. They will have the possibility to play all matches of the 2009/10 edition on the field with the Italian flag colors realized by the League’s Official Supplier, Mondo.

Mondo products have been chosen for this prestigious event at a variety of sites at the Games, foremost among them the Stadio Adriatico. The stadium is outfitted Mondotrack, the same system installed in the Birds' Nest Stadium for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Track equipment such as hurdles and uprights were also made by Mondo.

6,000 people attended the tenth edition of Memorial Primo Nebiolo.
16 competitions, 128 athletes, 2 hours of contests and the traditional fireworks closing ceremony.
A great event to inaugurate the new track, IAAF Certified, realized with Mondotrack FTX, the same surface installed in Beijing Bird’s Nest.

 

Usain Bolt broke another World Record on 17th May 2009, running the 150 meters street dash in 14.35 seconds at the Manchester Great City Race.

In few hours the Olympic Stadium in Rome will host the final match of the UEFA Champions League.

The stadium, which has already undergone a restyling for this prestigious International event, has been completed with other few adjustments.

In March, the Science and technology museum “Leonardo da Vinci” in Milan has opened a a new interactive area dedicated to Rubber.
The new lab has been inserted in the Materials Collection, Polymeric Material section, into the Plastic Materials sector.
The lab analyzes production, manufacturing, uses and applications of rubber.

The main characteristic of the tramway is its harmonious integration with the surrounding . Marseilles is a typical Mediterranean city, known for centuries for its port - 'The old harbour' - located at the heart of the city centre.