Special Rekortan surfaces in the “Stadium at the End of the World” in Magglingen (Switzerland)
Close to heaven
Magglingen (or Macolin in French) is a small village in the Bernese Seeland. Around 600 people live in the bilingual community overlooking Lake Biel. Magglingen is known as the home of the Swiss Federal Office of Sport (BASPO), a centre of excellence that promotes sport and fitness in Switzerland – across all age groups and performance levels. Surrounded by a picturesque landscape, the National Sports Centre Magglingen (NSM) offers numerous sports facilities for a wide variety of sports, as well as seminar rooms, accommodation and catering facilities.
Part of the NSM is the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen, which provides higher education in the field of sports and sports science. There, top athletes receive scientific athletic support and optimised training opportunities – which is how “Magglingen” became a synonym for the training camp attended by top Swiss athletes.
Not far from BASPO, in the hills of the Magglingerberg, lies a sports stadium with a poetic and descriptive name: “Stadion End-der-Welt” (Fin du Monde) (meaning “Stadium at the End of the World”). It is part of an entire sports complex, which includes a sports hall, multiple football fields and tennis courts and a beach volleyball court. Situated at an altitude of 1,000 metres, the facility not only provides optimal training opportunities, but also breath-taking views of the Bernese Seeland – as close as you can get to heaven on earth. Between 2006 and 2007, the complex was modernised and expanded. Today, the facility is compact, practical and integrated in the surrounding landscape. The football pitches can also be used for rugby and American football, and there are throwing circles for discus and hammer throw, as well as a golf course.
The heart of the facility, the stadium, was renovated from the second quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2022, using our Rekortan surface in different versions and colours for the athletics tracks. Tracks 1 to 6 are laid with Rekortan M in brick red – the worldwide tried-and-tested professional among our sports surfaces. The poured in-situ surface is characterised its excellent acceleration and step-elasticity characteristics. It is also quick, waterproof and extremely well-suited to spikes. At the Stadion End-der Welt, it is also installed on the javelin runway. The seventh track on the outside is rendered in colour-contrasting orange and also features an additional 40-mm cushioning elastic layer, for use as a jogging lane.
The South sector, which is used for sports such as pole vaulting, are laid with Rekortan SL, also in brick red – our all-rounder for highly frequented sports facilities. Rekortan SL was developed by Polytan as a waterproof surface with a structured top layer for professional athletics training – and is designed specially for “stress zones” such as the pole vaulting area. High-quality raw materials and the system structure of the surface guarantee a long-lasting, visually appealing surface. Rekortan SL is also installed on the street-workout facility next to the running circuits, in the colour rainbow green.
For the North sector, Rekortan RS, one of our retopping systems, was chosen. It is a professional solution for the technical and cosmetic renewal of worn tracks and old surfaces in need of renovation. In Magglingen, Rekortan RS proved to be a highly economical solution for the renovation of sports facilities, as the existing elastic substructures could remain in use, rather than being disposed of.
There, professional and amateur athletes alike benefit from the diverse infrastructure, which is partially publicly accessible and can be used by residents free of charge. The Stadion End-der-Welt might be as close as you can get to heaven on earth.
