Southampton

Southampton Sports Centre Athletics Track

Facilities

Athletics Clubs

Additional Information

The Southampton Sports Centre which comprises various sports pitches was originally opened on the 28th May 1938 by the Duke and Duchess of Kent. The track was originally grass with concrete curbs and is thought to have opened at the same time. It was reported to be very well maintained and very fast but sloped quite badly. It was upgraded to an "Avon Polytrak" synthetic track in 1976 with 6 lanes and an 8 lane straight. When the surface was first laid there was apparently such a distinct change of colour that the whole track was sprayed with latex (apparently an almost 100% pure rubber). The first meeting was on 9 Apr 1977 and the official opening meeting on 22 May 1977. The infield still sloped however with the DT/HT sector uphill and the SP and JT downhill. The track was surrounded by a 480m cycle velodrome from at least then. In 1997 the track was partial resurfaced with Polytan WS. Work started in about October 1999 on upgrading the track to 8 lanes all round with facilities capable of hosting a 'major' meeting. The track builders were G Thornton (Contracts) Ltd. The track surface is Polyflex 950-3. To make room for the extra lanes, the cycle track has been removed and the infield is now perfectly level. The track reopened on August 17th 2001 when it staged the finals of the Millennium Youth Games from the 17th to the 20th. The track boasts the UK's first purpose built SC water jump which is adjustable for both height and length for women's races although subsequently the IAAF have decided that water jump pits only need to be adjustable in height for women's races. The barrier which is distinctly coloured blue and yellow is on rails and moves forward to effectively shorten the length of the pit. There are tentative plans to build an 82m indoor straight here.

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