The new Gymnasium München-Nord school has been one of 43 “elite sports schools” across Germany since July 2016. The sporting disciplines they focus on are volleyball, judo, basketball, archery, athletics, swimming, synchronised swimming, short track speed skating, table tennis, football and trampolining. The four-form entry educational establishment provides places for up to 1,000 girls and boys and 100 teachers, with special measures being taken to develop the sports skills of one class from every year group above middle school age.
Many sports facilities provide training to Olympic standards in order to meet the requirements of an elite sports school. Polytan was in on the action when the outdoor facilities were installed: When it came to the 110 metre six-lane sprint track, the chosen system was the water-impermeable Rekortan M synthetic surface from Polytan in classic brick red. The students train on the two brick red basketball courts and in the light grey high jump, long jump and shot-put areas, all of which are covered in the multi-purpose PolyPlay S synthetic surface. The soft-impact PolyPlay FS, likewise in light grey, was installed in the areas around the fitness trail, the monkey bars and climbing frame and the 45-metre bouldering wall – and duly attuned to the required drop heights of two and three metres respectively.
