History of World Class Zurich:

Weltklasse Zürich first took place on August 12, 1928. In the beginning, the meeting was nicknamed by the public as the "Nurmi meeting" after the most admired and celebrated participant at the time, Paavo Nurmi. On 21 June 1960, on the Letzigrund track, Armin Hary managed to run the 100 metres as the first human being in 10.0 seconds.

Track Surface Yields Fast Times:

The most popular "rubber-like" track surface utilized at all modern Olympic and World Championship competitions (both indoors and outdoors) are those made by Italian company Mondo. However, a new surface at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich was developed in 2014 by Swiss company CONICA and retopped CONICA's new surface which provides athletes with better stability of the big toes, ankles, and in particular of their knees.  This effect results in a smaller loss of energy in these joints, and therefore in less oscillation of the body’s center of gravity. The new surface of the track therefore creates even better conditions for fast times.