Polytan LigaTurf Cross, Rekortan M, and Polytan SMART at Stade Charles Auray

Reviving a Traditional Club

Pantin, a small suburb on the northeastern outskirts of Paris. However, nearly 100 years ago, this was where football history was made: in 1905, the clubs Société Athlétique de Pantin and Étoile Parisienne merged to form Olympique de Pantin, which later became Olympique de Paris. This club won the first-ever French Cup (Coupe de France) in the 1917/18 season but disbanded only 10 years later.Yet, the story continued: to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding, Olympique de Pantin was revived, initially as a team of players from OFCP and the football section of CMS – the two local clubs. On July 7, 2005, Olympique de Pantin (OP F.C.) was officially re-established, uniting all football forces in Pantin.Today, the club includes 21 football teams that play in multiple stadiums, such as Stade Charles Auray. Another user of this facility is the Club Multisports Pantin, home to numerous sports – currently 25 disciplines – including athletics, which primarily uses the stadium's track.The intensive use of the facilities led to the decision to equip the football field with durable synthetic turf and the track with a synthetic surface. In 2020 and 2021, our Polytan LigaTurf Cross turf with cork-based infill, a running track with Rekortan M in brick red, and Polytan SMART for detailed data collection and training performance analysis were installed.Our professional surface Rekortan M has proved its durability and suitability for competition for decades. It is preferred by professional athletes, trainers, and amateurs worldwide for its exceptional acceleration and impressive elasticity. Additionally, it is extremely fast and favored by athletes and sports therapists for its superior cushioning and outstanding values from a sports medical perspective. The spray-coated surface, featuring visible granulate, is specifically designed for spikes and is waterproof. It is equally suitable for competition tracks, school sports facilities, and athletics stadiums such as Stade Charles Auray.Moreover, the running track at Pantin was equipped with Polytan SMART, our system for measuring and documenting training performances – ideal for professional athletes and ambitious runners. Polytan SMART enables precise timekeeping and performance diagnostics for traditional track disciplines and measures the approach speed in long jump or pole vault. These results allow targeted training adjustments to sustainably and efficiently improve performance.The Polytan SMART system consists of embedded magnetic timing gates, a 15-gram sensor for tracking data, and proven diagnostics software from our partner Humotion, or alternatively, a dedicated smartphone app. The maintenance-free magnetic gates are permanently and safely installed in the ground. Unlike other systems, no extensive preparations, installations, or adjustments are needed to perform the measurements.The football field was equipped with Polytan LigaTurf Cross. This turf system cleverly combines smooth and textured filaments. The advantages of both turf types come together to create an ideal football turf – including aesthetics, superior haptics, easier reduced maintenance, better infill stabilization, and enhanced turf volume. Our LigaTurf Cross is now also available as a CO2-neutral football turf, the LigaTurf Cross GT zero. For our latest development, the LigaTurf Cross GTR, we incorporate not only renewable raw materials but also recycled materials.