COLUMBIA, S.C., Oct. 24, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When the University of South Carolina recently completed installation of its Mondo Super X 720 outdoor track, Curtis Frye, the track and field and cross country head coach there, fulfilled a dream.

“Mondo surfaces provide solid, consistent performances, and their excellent energy return enables athletes to perform their best and run their fastest,” Frye said. “Coaches with Mondo tracks say they love to train on their surfaces, and we try to participate in competitions that are held on Mondo’s tracks because our athletes always do so well. So, for 20 years, it’s been my dream to have Mondo.”

The new Super X 720 nine-lane, 400-meter outdoor Weems Baskin Track was installed as part of a major renovation to the Sheila and Morris Cregger Track Stadium. All of the venue’s track areas, including the straightaways and the long jump and pole vault lanes, also have the Super X 720 surface.

In addition, a six-lane, 200-meter Mondo Super X 720 track will be going into the university’s new indoor facility in early 2017. The track will feature two curved sections that are banked for high-speed running events. Banking allows athletes to safely maximize their speed and performance on the curves instead of decelerating, which they must do on flat surfaces. Installation will be handled by Medallion Athletics Products, Inc., a general contractor and Mondo dealer based in Mooresville, North Carolina.

A Mondo track also served as the training surface for USA Track & Field athletes during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The team practiced at Escola Naval, the Brazilian naval academy, which has a Mondotrack/WS surface. Mondotrack/WS also was the competition surface at Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium, the venue that hosted the track and field events. 

“We believe training on Mondo during the Games was a critical factor in the success of USA Track & Field,” said Frye, who also served as sprint coach of the U.S. Olympic track and field team. “It gave our athletes a significant competitive advantage, allowed them to perform optimally, and helped them to win 13 gold medals and 32 medals overall.”

Mondo’s Super X 720 track surface combines the backing of Mondotrack and the wear layer of the company’s Super X Performance track, which are vulcanized together to form one continuous, seamless piece of material that delivers exceptional traction, durability, drainage and safety.

About Mondo

Mondo is the global leader in the track and field, indoor sport and contract flooring markets, manufacturing flooring surfaces for virtually every application. More than 1,100 Mondo tracks and millions of square feet of the company’s high-performance athletic surfaces are installed worldwide.

An official supplier of athletic tracks for the past 10 Olympic Games and the competition surface since the 1992 Barcelona Games, Mondo also is the official supplier or sponsor of more than 100 sports federations and associations. 

A family-owned business since its founding in 1948, the company sells its products in more than 196 countries through Mondo-owned manufacturing companies in Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and China. For news updates, visit mondoworldwide.com and like the Mondo Track and Field Facebook page.

Mondo is a registered trademark of Mondo.