The “world’s fastest track” has been inaugurated at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, setting up the mouth-watering possibility of some record-breaking times at the European Athletics Championships this summer.

European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz was on hand Friday for the official unveiling by Barcelona Mayor Jordi Hereu of the blue Mondotrack FTX – the latest synthetic surface from MONDO hailed by athletes as the fastest ever.

The Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys track has nine lanes and, apart from the colour, is identical to Bird’s Nest track used during the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

President Wirz said, “The inauguration of this stunning track is a fantastic step on the way to the 20th European Athletics Championships in Barcelona and I give my praise to all those involved in making this become a reality. I am looking forward to seeing some great performances here in the summer.”

With just under 100 days to go until the championships, which run between 26 July and 1 August, Mayor Hereu inaugurated the track by saying, “it reflects the ambition and passion that Barcelona lives with sport.

“The track is a milestone for the city and athletics. To just be in this stadium is something special.”

Spain Sport Secretary Jaime Lissavetzky, also present at the inauguration, said, “Every time I discover something new in Barcelona, and today it’s this brilliant track. Montjuïc is the venue for athletics in Spain and Barcelona is a great European and global city, which is prepared to host top international events.”

The new track installation is part of an infrastructure plan for the European Athletics Championships that includes work on sports facilities including the Pau Negre Stadium and Joan Serrahima Municipal Stadium (warm-up tracks during the championships) as well as the venues Mar Bella and Can Dragó.

Fermín Cacho, who won Olympic 1500m gold on the previous track in the Montjuïc stadium in 1992, Javier García Chico, Pole Vault bronze medallist in 1992, Carlos Castrejana, José Manuel Abascal, Valentí Massana, Abel Antón and Martín Fiz all attended the inauguration in their roles as Barcelona 2010 ambassadors.

The athletes were a part of the big B10 celebration this weekend as the countdown clock hit 100 days to go on Sunday.

— ends —