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 ‘B


lue is the colour’ is a song more associated with foot- ball and London-based Premier League giants Chelsea FC, but that could change after the 2012 Olympic


Games. For the first time, a major international hockey tourna- ment will be staged on a pitch that will be blue and not the tra- ditional green. Hockey has always been played on green pitches. When the


sport moved away from grass in the 1970s and onto synthetic surfaces, green remained the colour of choice – until now. A blue pitch has been laid at Valencia in Spain, but London 2012 will see the first Olympic tournament staged on a surface that the organisers will prove definitive.


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“The primary aim was to define a new look for hockey,” says


Michael Laviano from Populous, the architects behind the hockey centre. “As the pitch is artificial, it doesn’t make sense to have it green.” The change in colour scheme for hockey in London 2012 also


extends past the playing surface as the run off areas at the hockey centre will be pink in a move aimed at creating a landmark to ‘com- plement the architecture of the permanent surrounding venues’. Laviano adds: “Pink is one of the Olympic and Paralympic key


colours and was thought of as a good combination. Pink as a main colour for the pitch would not have worked well and we were not entirely sure of using pink as the surround to start with.


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