Peak athletic performance with BASF

* World Championships in Athletics on one of the world’s fastest tracks

Ludwigshafen, Germany – The IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which begin on August 15 in Berlin, are the world’s biggest sporting event of 2009. There’s no doubt that records will be broken again when the top runners from the United States, Jamaica and Ethiopia compete. This is because the running events will take place on one of the world’s fastest tracks.



The surface of the distinctive blue track of Berlin’s Olympic stadium contains CONICA products from BASF. The three-layer synthetic surface offers athletes optimal running conditions: while the hard but nevertheless elastic top layer ensures maximum return of energy to athletes, the soft lower layers protect the athletes’ joints. The surface is poured in one piece, which makes it waterproof as well as temperature and weather resistant. The outstanding quality of the track surface in Berlin has been confirmed by the award of an IAAF Class 1 Certificate from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).



Picture: The blue track of Berlin’s Olympic stadium offers athletes optimal running conditions thanks to BASF products.



A press photo is available at www.basf.de/pressphoto-database under the keyword “construction chemicals” or the search term “CONICA”.



About BASF
BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008 and had approximately 97,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.