Rekortan M and Polytan SMART at the GSP stadium complex in Strovolos, Cyprus
Catapulted into a new dimension
The GSP complex, named after the sports association Gymnastikos Syllogos Pankipria in Strovolos, in the Nicosia District (Στάδιο ΓΣΠ), consists of three separate stadiums. As well as the football stadium itself, there is also a neighbouring athletics stadium and an additional athletics facility with a football training field.
With a capacity of 22,859 seats, the football stadium is the biggest in Cyprus and is home to the three biggest football teams in Nicosia (APOEL, Olympiakos and Omonia), as well as the Cypriot national team. The sports facility is one of the biggest on the island that fulfils the UEFA criteria for international games, which is why the stadium is also used for European championship games by other Cypriot clubs.
The “national athletics centre”, as it is also called, is the only one in Cyprus that is built exclusively for athletic disciplines. The integrated accommodation with hotel flair and a view of the stadium make the facility a popular and fully equipped training centre for athletes from around the world.
The surfaces for the running tracks of the athletics stadium were installed by Polytan in 2007, and renewed in the spring of 2023 – after 16 years of intensive use. Together with Excelo Ltd., a leading floor surface specialist from Strovolos, we renewed the eight-lane running circuit, sprinting track and areas for the various jumping disciplines with Rekortan M in sky blue. The chosen surface, Rekortan M, strikes the perfect balance between excellent shock absorption and maximum acceleration – properties that are appreciated by both middle-distance runners and sprinters alike. Other areas for jumping and throwing disciplines have been surfaced with Rekortan M in brick red.
In addition, Polytan SMART, our high-precision system for professional performance diagnostics, was installed in the running tracks of the athletics stadium. It is the ideal solution for classic running disciplines in athletics and can be used to optimise athletes’ performance, thanks to its digital diagnostic technology. Polytan SMART can be used to take precise measurements at any time – regardless of the weather and for multiple athletes at once. This technology allows chronometric performance to be recorded using a body sensor or an app on a smartphone. In Strovolos, it can not only be used for running sports, but also to measure run-ups in the long jump or when pole vaulting. This enables training sessions and performance to be precisely captured, documented and analysed.
The sports facility in Strovolos is now certified as World Athletics Class 1. The athletics stadium is primarily used by the Pancypriot Athletics Association, to which the neighbouring Liverpool FC International Academy also belongs. The extensive renovations, combined with the fully equipped training centre, have catapulted the sports facility into a new dimension: in the summer of 2023, the stadium hosted the All-Cyprus Athletic Games already. In 2025, it will host a total of 16 competitions in the disciplines shot put, discus, hammer throw and javelin for the European Throwing Cup.
The training and warmups for these events will take place on the third athletics facility within the complex. This was also renewed with Rekortan M in brick red by Polytan in spring 2023.
The ideal training conditions, on-site accommodation and mild climate, even in the winter, draw many international athletes to Nicosia, who use the athletics stadium to prepare for the outdoor season. The stadium has become a showcase project, not only for the region, but the whole of Cyprus.
Images: Christos Christofides, Excelo Ltd.
