Berlin Blue — The Surface For Winners
The vivid blue granulate of the running track in Berlin's Olympiastadion. As the visible layer of a highly complex flooring system, it became a signal for peak performance — and a global industry standard.
When Colour Becomes a Signal
During the modernisation of Berlin's Olympiastadion, the traditional red cinder track was replaced by an entirely newly developed EPDM granulate. Instead of the classic red, the track shone in a purpose-developed, luminous shade — Hertha Blue. The deep blue high-performance surface was combined with striking grey zones for the stadium's secondary areas.
Jörg Siekmann was a driving force behind this development during his years in the sports surfacing industry. Behind every world-class performance stands a highly complex overall system: the record-breaking track consisted of many invisible layers, from the foundation to the elastic base. Our contribution was a single component within that construct — but precisely the one that made the decisive difference: the visible layer.
Because blue here is not merely a colour. Blue inspires, blue motivates, and blue points unmistakably towards absolute peak performance. When an athlete settles into the starting blocks and looks down, it is this signal that flips the mental switch.
What the Project Set Out to Achieve
For a major event in a listed arena, the surface had to meet two demands at once: the uncompromising function of a world-class competition track, and a visual impact that broke with convention.
Departing from the red cinder track was a gamble. The blue surface had to separate the corridor of maximum acceleration clearly from the rest of the facility without distracting the athletes — and it had to stay colour-stable for years under UV load and constant use.
The Outcome of the Project
At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, Usain Bolt shattered the world records over 100 metres (9.58 s) and 200 metres (19.19 s) on this very track — records that still stand today. Jörg Siekmann was able to congratulate him in person and hand him a trophy filled with exactly the blue granulate on which sporting history had been written. What began in Berlin as a gamble changed an entire industry: “Berlin Blue” established itself worldwide as a symbol of speed and dynamism. And it remains the colour that defines the JSTec brand to this day.