Olympic Stadium

Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games.

An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words Olympic Stadium as part of their names.

Olympic Stadium may also be named a multi-purpose stadium which hosts Olympic sports.^[1]

In the case of the Summer Olympics, athletics competitions and the football final are traditionally held in the Olympic Stadium. Exceptions to this have occurred though at both the 1900 and 2016 Summer Olympics as well as at the 2010 and 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games.

Early Winter Games often used figure skating venues as focal points. These were often designated as the Olympic Stadium, usually hosting the opening and closing ceremonies.

A number of stadiums have been used in more than one Olympics, in those cities that have held the Games more than once.

Lysgårdsbakkene was the main stadium of a Winter Olympics and a Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG). Bergiselschanze was the main stadium of two Winter Olympics and one Winter YOG. Olympiahalle jointly shared the Olympic Stadium role with Bergiselschanze during the two Winter Olympics, but not during the Winter YOG. Only one stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, has been the main stadium of two Summer Olympics. In addition to the inaugural Summer Olympics, Panathinaiko Stadio was also the main stadium of the only Intercalated Games held. In 2022 Beijing National Stadium will join these in being the main stadium at two Olympics, but with a special distinction: it will become the only stadium to have been such at both a Summer and a Winter Olympics.

A number, including both the Panathinaiko Stadio and the Vélodrome de Vincennes, have hosted events at subsequent Olympics. The London Games of 2012 were not opened and closed at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, the site of the 1948 Olympic Stadium, but instead at a new stadium in Stratford. Wembley was, however, the venue for some 2012 Olympic football matches. Likewise, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the centrepiece stadium for the 1956 games, later hosted the first games of the Sydney 2000 football tournament. Lake Placid's 1930 Olympic Stadium was utilized in the 1980 Lake Placid games as the speed skating venue. Olympiahalle hosted figure skating and short-track speed skating during the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. Stockholm Olympic Stadium hosted equestrian events for the 1956 Summer Olympics (while the 1956 games were held in Melbourne, Australia, quarantine restrictions prevented equestrian events from being held domestically, thus Stockholm, Sweden hosted the 1956 equestrian competitions).

Stadiums

Image	Olympics	Season	Stadium	Native name	City	Country	New/old	Capacity	Existing?
	1896	Summer	Panathenaic Stadium	Παναθηναϊκό στάδιο	Athens	Greece	Existing	80,000	Yes
	1900	Summer	Vincennes Velodrome (ceremony)	Vélodrome de Vincennes	Paris	France	Existing	50,000	Yes
			Croix-Catelan Stadium (athletics)	Stade Croix-Catelan			Existing		No
	1904	Summer	Francis Field		St. Louis	United States	New	19,000	Yes
	1906 Intercalated	Summer	Panathenaic Stadium	Παναθηναϊκό στάδιο	Athens	Greece	Existing	80,000	Yes
	1908	Summer	White City Stadium		London	United Kingdom	New	68,000	No
	1912	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Stockholms Olympiastadion	Stockholm	Sweden	New	20,000	Yes
	1920	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Olympisch Stadion	Antwerp	Belgium	New	12,771	Yes
	1924	Winter	Olympic Stadium	Stade Olympique de Chamonix	Chamonix	France	New	45,000	Yes
	1924	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir	Paris	France	Existing	45,000	Yes
	1928	Winter	St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink	Badrutts Park	St. Moritz	Switzerland	New	4,000	Yes
	1928	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Olympisch Stadion	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Existing, renovated	31,600	Yes
	1932	Winter	Lake Placid Speedskating Oval		Lake Placid	United States	New	7,500	Yes
	1932	Summer	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum		Los Angeles	United States	Existing/ expanded	101,574	Yes
	1936	Winter	Große Olympiaschanze		Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Germany	Existing	40,000	Yes
	1936	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Olympiastadion	Berlin	Germany	New	110,000	Yes
	1948	Winter	St. Moritz Olympic Ice Rink	Badrutts Park	St. Moritz	Switzerland	Existing	4,000	Yes
	1948	Summer	Wembley Stadium		London	United Kingdom	Existing	82,000	No (replaced)
	1952	Winter	Bislett Stadium	Bislett stadion	Oslo	Norway	Existing	20,000	Yes
	1952	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Olympiastadion	Helsinki	Finland	Existing	70,000	Yes
	1956	Winter	Stadio Olimpico Del Ghiaccio		Cortina d'Ampezzo	Italy	Existing, renovated	12,000	Yes
	1956	Summer	Melbourne Cricket Ground		Melbourne	Australia	Existing	115,000	Yes
	1960	Winter	Blyth Arena		Squaw Valley	United States	New	8,500	No
			Squaw Valley Olympic Skating Rink				Temporary		No
	1960	Summer	Stadio Olimpico		Rome	Italy	Existing	90,000	Yes
	1964	Winter	Bergiselschanze (opening ceremony)		Innsbruck	Austria	Existing	26,000	Yes
			Olympiahalle (closing ceremony)				New	10,836	Yes
	1964	Summer	Olympic Stadium	国立霞ヶ丘陸上競技場	Tokyo	Japan	Existing	71,556	No (being replaced)
	1968	Winter	Olympic Stadium (opening ceremony)	Stade olympique	Grenoble	France	Temporary	60,000	No
			Le Stade de Glace (closing ceremony)				New	12,000	Yes
	1968	Summer	Estadio Olímpico Universitario		Mexico City	Mexico	Existing	83,700	Yes
	1972	Winter	Makomanai Open Stadium (opening ceremony)	真駒内屋外競技場	Sapporo	Japan	New	30,000	Yes
			Makomanai Ice Arena (closing ceremony)	真駒内屋内競技			New	11,500	Yes
	1972	Summer	Olympiastadion		Munich	West Germany	New	80,000	Yes
	1976	Winter	Bergiselschanze (opening ceremony)		Innsbruck	Austria	Existing	26,000	Yes
			Olympiahalle (closing ceremony)				Existing	10,836	Yes
	1976	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Stade olympique	Montreal	Canada	New	70,000	Yes
	1980	Winter	Lake Placid Equestrian Stadium (opening ceremony)		Lake Placid	United States	Temporary stadium at existing equestrian grounds	30,000	No
			Olympic Center Arena (closing ceremony)				New	10,000	Yes
	1980	Summer	Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium	Гранд Арена Центрального стадиона имени Ленина	Moscow	Soviet Union	Existing	103,000	Yes
	1984	Winter	Olympic Stadium (opening ceremony)	Olimpijski stadion	Sarajevo	Yugoslavia	Existing	50,000	Yes
			Zetra Olympic Hall (closing ceremony)	Olimpijska dvorana Zetra			New	12,000	Yes
	1984	Summer	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum		Los Angeles	United States	Existing	92,516	Yes
	1988	Winter	McMahon Stadium		Calgary	Canada	Existing, renovated	38,205	Yes
	1988	Summer	Olympic Stadium	올림픽주경기장	Seoul	South Korea	Existing	100,000	Yes
	1992	Winter	Theatre of Ceremonies	Théâtre des Cérémonies	Albertville	France	Temporary	35,000	No
	1992	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc Estadio Olímpico de Montjuïc	Barcelona	Spain	Existing	60,000	Yes
	1994	Winter	Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena	Lysgårdsbakkene hoppanlegg	Lillehammer	Norway	New	35,000	Yes
	1996	Summer	Centennial Olympic Stadium		Atlanta	United States	New	85,000	Yes[2]
	1998	Winter	Nagano Olympic Stadium	長野オリンピックスタジアム	Nagano	Japan	New	30,000	Yes
	2000	Summer	Stadium Australia		Sydney	Australia	New	114,714	Yes
	2002	Winter	Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium		Salt Lake City	United States	Existing, replacement	45,017	Yes
	2004	Summer	Olympic Stadium	Ολυμπιακό Κεντρικό Στάδιο Αθήνας "Σπύρος Λούης"	Athens	Greece	Existing, renovated	71,030	Yes
	2006	Winter	Stadio Olimpico di Torino		Turin	Italy	Existing	28,000	Yes
	2008	Summer	Beijing National Stadium	国家体育场	Beijing	China	New	91,000	Yes
	2010	Winter	BC Place Stadium		Vancouver	Canada	Existing, renovated	54,500	Yes
	2010 Youth	Summer	The Float@Marina Bay	Pentas Terapung Teluk Marina 滨海湾浮动舞台 மரீனா பே மிதக்கும் மேடை (Tamil)	Marina Bay	Singapore	Existing	30,000	Yes
	2012 Youth	Winter	Bergiselschanze		Innsbruck	Austria	Existing	26,000	Yes
	2012	Summer	Olympic Stadium		London	United Kingdom	New	80,000	Yes
	2014	Winter	Fisht Olympic Stadium	Олимпийский стадион	Sochi	Russia	New	40,000	Yes
	2014 Youth	Summer	Olympic Stadium	南京奥林匹克体育中心	Nanjing	China	Existing	61,443	Yes
	2016 Youth	Winter	Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena (opening ceremony)	Lysgårdsbakkene hoppanlegg	Lillehammer	Norway	Existing	35,000	Yes
			Håkons Hall (closing ceremony)				Existing	11,500	Yes
	2016	Summer	Maracanã Stadium (opening and closing ceremony, football)	Estádio do Maracanã	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Existing	78,600[3]	Yes
			João Havelange Olympic Stadium (athletics and football)	Estádio Olímpico João Havelange			Existing/ expanded	60,000[4]	Yes
	2018	Winter	Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium	횡계 올림픽 파크	Pyeongchang	South Korea	Temporary	50,000	Not Yet Built
	2018 Youth	Summer	River Plate Stadium	Estadio Mounumental	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Existing	61,321	Yes
	2020 Youth	Winter	Stade Pierre de Coubertin	Stade Pierre de Coubertin	Lausanne	Switzerland	Existing	12,000	Yes
	2020	Summer	Olympic Stadium	新国立競技場 (tentative name)	Tokyo	Japan	Existing, replacement	60,000	Not Yet Built
	2022	Winter	Beijing National Stadium	国家体育场	Beijing	China	Existing	80,000	Yes

Other major events held at Olympic Stadiums

Venue	City	Events
Olympic Stadium	Amsterdam	1987 Individual Speedway World Championship Finals, 2016 European Athletics Championships
Panathenaic Stadium	Athens	1967–68 FIBA European Cup Winner's Cup, 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games
Olympiako Stadio Athinas 'Spyros Louis'	Athens	1983, 1994 and 2007 UEFA Champions League Final, 1997 World Championships in Athletics, WRC Acropolis Rally SuperSpecial Stage 2005 and 2006, 2006 IAAF World Cup
Centennial Olympic Stadium	Atlanta	1999 World Series and 2000 MLB All-Star Game (as Turner Field)
Beijing National Stadium	Beijing	2015 World Championships in Athletics
Olympic Stadium	Berlin	1974 FIFA World Cup, 1994 IPC Athletics World Championships, 2006 FIFA World Cup Final, 2009 World Championships in Athletics, 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2015 UEFA Champions League Final and 2018 European Athletics Championships
Olympic Stadium	Helsinki	1983 and 2005 World Championships in Athletics, 1971, 1994 and 2012 European Athletics Championships
Olympic Stadium	London	2015 Rugby World Cup, 2017 World ParaAthletics Championships and 2017 World Championships in Athletics
Wembley Stadium	London	1966 FIFA World Cup Final, UEFA Euro 1996 Final, 1992 European Cup Final, 2011 UEFA Champions League Final, 2013 UEFA Champions League Final, annual FA Cup Final, UEFA Euro 2020 Finals (the latter from 2011 onwards used the current stadium)
White City Stadium	London	1934 British Empire Games
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	Los Angeles	Super Bowl I (1967), Super Bowl VII (1973), 1959 World Series, 1982 Individual Speedway World Championship, 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games and second game of the 1959 MLB All-Star Game
Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne	1992 and 2015 Cricket World Cup Finals, 2006 Commonwealth Games, annual AFL Grand Final
Estadio Olímpico Universitario	Mexico City	1955 Pan American Games, 1986 FIFA World Cup
Olympic Stadium	Montreal	1982 MLB All-Star Game; six Grey Cups; 10 matches in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, including the final; 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
Luzhniki Stadium	Moscow	2013 World Championships in Athletics, 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, 2018 FIFA World Cup Final
Olympic Stadium	Munich	1974 FIFA World Cup Final, 1979 European Cup Final, UEFA Euro 1988 Final, 1993, 1997 UEFA Champions League Finals, 1989 Individual Speedway World Championship and 2002 European Athletics Championships
Bislett Stadion	Oslo	1946 European Athletics Championships
Lysgårdsbakken	Lillehammer	FIS Ski Jumping World Cup and FIS Nordic Combined World Cup
Vélodrome de Vincennes	Paris	1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 Tour de France closing stage
Stade Olympique de Colombes	Paris	1938 FIFA World Cup Final
Estádio do Maracanã	Rio de Janeiro	1950 FIFA World Cup Final, 2000 FIFA Club World Championship Final, 2007 Pan American Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Final and 2014 FIFA World Cup Final
Stadio Olimpico	Rome	1974 European Athletics Championships, 1977 and 1984 European Cup Finals, 1987 World Championships in Athletics, 1990 FIFA World Cup Final, 1996 and 2009 UEFA Champions League Final
Olympic Stadium	Seoul	1986 Asian Games, 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup finals
Fisht Olympic Stadium	Sochi	2018 FIFA World Cup
Stockholm Olympic Stadium	Stockholm	1958 European Athletics Championships; 2001, 2002 and 2004 Speedway Grand Prix of Sweden
Stadium Australia	Sydney	2003 Rugby World Cup Final, 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final, annual NRL Grand Final
Olympic Stadium	Tokyo	1958 Asian Games, 1991 World Championships in Athletics, Intercontinental Cup, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 FIFA Club World Cup
Stadio Olimpico di Torino	Turin	1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 FIFA World Cup
BC Place	Vancouver	Nine Grey Cups; nine matches in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, including the final

References

1. Olympic Stadium. Big Olympic Encyclopedia. Moscow 2006.
2. After the 1996 Paralympics, the stadium was reconfigured, as planned, into the baseball-specific Turner Field. After the Atlanta Braves vacated Turner Field after their 2016 season, Georgia State University will renovate the stadium to host its American football program.
3. "Maracanã region". www.basil2016.gov.br. Brasil 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2015. Maracanã Stadium Stage of the 1950 World Cup final, the mystical arena was refurbished for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 13 July, it was the stage of the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina, when the Germans were crowned champions of the world. The Maracanã will be the stage of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. In addition, it will host football matches at the Olympic Games. However, the arena will not host any Paralympic competitions. Sports at the Olympic Games: football Sports at the Paralympic Games: ceremonies Capacity: 78,600 people line feed character in |quote= at position 486 (help)
4. "João Havelange Olympic Stadium". Rio 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

External links

• Olympic Past & Future Stadiums - BALLPARKS.com
• Summer Olympic Stadiums (Stadia) 1896 - (2020) on Google Maps (select "Sat View")