With one year to go to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, construction of the Olympic venues is well underway. Dow, a Worldwide Olympic Partner and the Official Chemistry Company of the Olympic Games, is offering industry-leading solutions to help insulate, seal, connect, coat and protect key Olympic venues, such as the Olympic Stadium, Ariake Arena, Ariake Gymnastics Centre, Tokyo Aquatics Centre and many more.

“The Olympic Games challenge not only athletes to be the best that they can be, but they also inspire the rest of us to push beyond business as usual and drive positive impact and change.  Using sport as our starting point, Dow listened to what was needed and contributed our material science expertise, innovative thinking and talent to help build each Game that we are involved in,” said Mike Reed, vice president of Dow Olympic and Sports Solutions. “Together with our customers, we are proud and excited to be implementing technologies to enhance the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 experience for everyone.”

Dow has been working with its customers to offer various solutions for the construction of new and temporary sporting arenas, as well as to retrofit existing venues from the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964 for use in 2020. This collaboration has resulted in infrastructure projects that can meet high-performance standards.

Dow solutions implemented across several Tokyo 2020 venues include but are not limited to the following:

  • Dow polyurethanes for sealant applications fill gaps between walls, doors and window frames, helping to maintain temperature of the Olympic venues along with other sustainability benefits.
  • Dow coating acrylic emulsions for exterior metal and concrete surfaces offer sustainable wall coating solutions to help protect Olympic structures from corrosion and moisture damage, thereby extending the life of the venues, without alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs) content nor added formaldehyde or formaldehyde generators.  Dow acrylic resins are APEO free, being manufactured without the use of APEO surfactants.
  • Dow glycol ethers solvents are used in a variety of interior and exterior paint and coating applications for the Olympic venues. Used in water-based systems, the solvents optimize stability and performance of the coatings, while also meeting low-VOC requirements.
  • Dow polyethylene resins are used in various pipe applications at Olympic venues, offering long-term durability facing environmental factors, as well as efficient processing and installation compared to pipes made from traditional materials such as carbon steel, ductile iron, concrete and clay.
  • Dow polyolefin resins for wire and cable applications offer protection and durability to the venues’ energy and data cables, keeping athletes connected to their families while away from home, and enhancing transmission efficiency and speed of data transfer to broadcast sporting events—without interruption—to the rest of the world.

In total, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will have 43 venues – 8 new permanent, 25 retrofitted from Tokyo 1964 and 10 temporary venues.

For more information about Dow’s collaboration with the Olympic Movement, visit https://www.dow.com/en-us/sports/partnerships/olympics.