The 110m hurdles of sustainable development.
By entering this event, Athletissima’s goal is not to break a record, but to make headway every year, to regularly improve its performance by a few hundredths of a second and to avoid injuries.
Youth and Health
To us, attracting the world’s star athletes only makes sense if it can inspire young people to take up elite or grassroots sport, if it can contribute to the fight against obesity and inactivity and favour integration through sport. To reach these targets, our course clears the 3 following hurdles.
- Hurdle 1: Kids clinic
For years, we have been clearing this hurdle by giving young people the opportunity to train with star athletes in 6 cities in French-speaking Switzerland.
→ More information and registration
- Hurdle 2: The “Mini Stars“ relay
This popular relay race is open to children and families and takes place every year a few days before the meet in the park of the Olympic Museum. It will be attended by star athletes who will hold autograph sessions. What you can win: the honour of giving a prize during one of Athletissima’s medal ceremonies.
→ More information and registration
- Hurdle 3: A meet affordable for all
Athletissima is a popular event which is affordable for all, especially for families. The ticket price is lower than at most other Diamond League meets. The starting price for this show which combines world class athletics performances and a fantastic firework is not higher than that of a cinema ticket.
Environment
Athletissima attracts the world’s best athletes, and we hope that they offer outstanding performances while respecting the rules of sport and fair-play. We also have to respect the rules of fair-play ourselves and this cannot be done without protecting the environment which hosts us every day and enables us to practice our sport. Here are the 6 hurdles we are clearing every year in this respect:
- Hurdle 1: Understand our impact
Being willing to act is not enough; it is all about making the right choices. This is why we partnered with the Qantis Company to evaluate Athletissima’s ecobalance. The ecobalance takes into account the CO2 emissions and the primary energy use of all the activities linked to the meet undertaken by the organizers, the volunteers, the athletes and the spectators.
The Athletissima ecobalance shows that the organisation of the meet produces 480 tons of CO2 and uses 2,200 MWh of primary energy.
The preparation of the event, its organisation and the energy used by the stadium account for just a small part of this ecobalance (approximately 15%). The majority of the ecobalance comes from the transport of the 14,000 spectators and the 280 athletes. This is the reason why Athletissima encourages the use of public transport or soft mobility to go to the meet.
- Hurdle 2: Free public transports
When purchasing your ticket for Athletissima, you will also receive a public transport ticket covering 8 zones of the Mobilis public transport network.
→ More information on Transport
- Hurdle 3: Car pooling
If you are driving to the meet, don’t leave your car half empty. Fill it with members of your family, with your friends, or meet other athletics fans by sharing it with them.
→ More information on E-car sharing
- Hurdle 4: An event supplied by renewable power
Athletissima uses Nativa Plus power, which 100% is made of new renewable energies, to cover the needs of the event. By covering part of the roof of its North stands with solar panels, which produce solar power for some 20 households, the Olympic Stadium was a pioneer. Installed in 1995, this infrastructure inspired others, such as the Stade de Suisse in Berne, which supplies power for 350 households.
- Hurdle 5: A clean stadium thanks to plastic glasses with a deposit
We have selected a system of reusable glasses with a deposit. The footprint of such a system is much better than that of disposable glasses. Furthermore, this system strongly reduces the volume of waste thrown on the ground, which improves the comfort of everyone.
- Hurdle 6: Waste separation right from the beginning
The majority of the waste induced by Athletissima, including the meet paper programme, can be reused or recycled. Waste is being separated thanks to the recycling bins which can be found all around the stadium.