Opening of Crystal Palace Track inc. 100 yards & Long Jump

On your marks, get set, go! Athletes grace the new running track at Crystal Palace with a series of thrilling athletics events and races.

Warm-ups and a flurry of activity at the starting line open this sport-focussed film shot at Crystal Palace athletics stadium. Under the watchful eye of TV cameras and officials, athletes test the newly-laid Tartan track, possibly in preparation for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics which would be the first Games to use this surface for athletics. Incredible slow-motion footage of a race is followed by shots of runners wearing their blue team kit on a well-deserved break.

One of the featured sportsmen is Ron Jones, a Welsh track and field athlete who represented Great Britain at three consecutive Summer Olympics, with Mexico City 1968 being his last. This film is from the collection of Enfield Local Studies Library and Archive.