Olimpiysky National Sports Complex

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Olimpiysky National Sports Complex

The Olimpiysky after reconstruction for the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Location Kiev, Ukraine
Coordinates 50°26′00″N, 30°31′19″E
Opened August 12, 1923
Renovated 1941, 1999
Expanded 1966, 1978
Owner City of Kiev
Surface Grass
Former names Red Stadium (1923-1941)
Stalin Respublikanskiy Stadium (1941-1953)
Khrushchev‎ Respublikanskiy Stadium (1953-1966)
Kiev Central Stadium (1963-1978)
Respublikanskiy Stadium (1978-1996
NSC Olimpiysky (1996-present)
Tenants FC Dynamo Kyiv (major European matches only)
FC Arsenal Kyiv
Ukraine national football team
Capacity 83,450 (football)
Field dimensions 104m by 72m

The Olimpiysky National Sports Complex (also known as Olympic Stadium, Republican Stadium or Central Stadium; Ukrainian: Національний спортивний комплекс "Олімпійський", Natsional’nyĭ sportyvnyĭ kompleks "Olimpiys'kyĭ") is a multi-use sports facility in Kiev, Ukraine, located on the slopes of city's central Cherepanov Hill. The stadium is the premier sports venue of Ukraine and one of the world's largest. The complex also features several other sports facilities. The stadium is also expected to host the final match of Euro 2012.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Red Stadium

Alekseevsky Park in early 1923. The territory allocated for the stadium was a wasteland in the wake of the chaos following the Russian Revolution of 1917
Alekseevsky Park in early 1923. The territory allocated for the stadium was a wasteland in the wake of the chaos following the Russian Revolution of 1917
Ceremonial opening of the Red Stadium on August 12, 1923
Ceremonial opening of the Red Stadium on August 12, 1923


The construction of a stadium in Kiev was considered as early as 1914, when the city was the commercial center of the Russian Empire's Southwest, and the Empire's third most important city. The plans were abandoned in the Great War. In the following years, the city saw much chaos and little order as the wars, revolutions, forces of different states and stateless bands occupied and fought in the city. The Bolshevik government revived the idea as the proposed Red Stadium in 1919, but the resumption of hostilities ended the project prematurely.

As chaos gave way to stability in the early 1920s, the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic was moved to Kharkiv and Kiev ended up with the status of Guberniya center. Construction resumed under the leadership of engineer L. I. Pilvinsky in early 1923, to host the Second All-Ukrainian Olympic games to be held in August of that year. The chosen site was the former location of the 1913 All-Russian exhibition, the war-ravaged lot of the Alekseevsky park.

The games were opened at the Red Stadium on August 12, 1923.

[edit] Reopening postponed seven years

Architect's rendering of the proposed 50,000-seat stadium of 1936. It was completed but never used.
Architect's rendering of the proposed 50,000-seat stadium of 1936. It was completed but never used.
The ticket for the Grand Opening of the Stadium, June 22, 1941, pre-empted by the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union on the very day. The event was "postponed until after Victory"
The ticket for the Grand Opening of the Stadium, June 22, 1941, pre-empted by the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union on the very day. The event was "postponed until after Victory"

Many mistakes were made due to the rushed construction. In particular, the stadium was aligned along an east-west axis instead of the standard north-south. So in 1934, as the Ukrainian capital was restored to Kiev, plans were made for a replacement, and in 1936 construction began on a new 50,000-seat stadium by architect M. I. Grychyna.

The complex was scheduled for completion in 1941 and the ceremonial opening was scheduled for June 22, 1941. However, in a monumental twist of history, on that very day Kiev was bombed by the Luftwaffe as part of the Nazi invasion to the Soviet Union, the onset of the Great Patriotic War. The opening ceremony was not canceled, however: a sign hung on the stadium gates optimistically indicated that it was merely "postponed until after the victory". And indeed, following the 1945 Soviet Victory over Nazi Germany, not only was the stadium reconstructed, but tickets issued in 1941 were honored for admittance to an opening ceremony of the Stalin Respublikanskiy (Republican) Stadium in 1948, as it was named.

[edit] Respublikanskiy Stadium

Stadium in the mid-1960s before the addition of the upper tier of seats
Stadium in the mid-1960s before the addition of the upper tier of seats
Addition of the second tier in 1967
Addition of the second tier in 1967
The ski jumping ramp was added during the 1966–68 reconstruction.
The ski jumping ramp was added during the 1966–68 reconstruction.

A period of political de-Stalinization throughout the Soviet Union followed Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, and the stadium was renamed after Nikita Khrushchev. As the city boomed in the post-war years and its population approached two million, the stadium underwent another major reconstruction in the mid-1960s. In 1966–68 the Kiev Central Stadium, as it was then called, was enlarged to accommodate 100,000 spectators with the addition of a second tier of seating. The expanded complex also included indoor tennis courts, two additional football pitches, several outdoor courts and other arenas, and notably a ski jumping ramp of a rather novel suspended design.[1]

The new stadium served the city until 1978, when it underwent a new cycle of complete reconstruction, to accommodate the 1980 Summer Olympics, to be hosted by Soviet Union. It was renamed, yet again, as the Republican V.I. Lenin Stadium, which title would gratefully remain above ideological disputes until the Collapse of the Soviet Union. It hosted the local ceremony of the Grand Opening of the 1980 Olympics followed by several football matches (the final games were held in the official host city, Moscow).

The nearby Kiev Metro station Respublikanskiy Stadion was opened in late 1984.

[edit] Olympic Sports Complex

After Ukrainian independence in 1991, the stadium was given national status in 1996 and renamed again as the National Sports Complex "Olimpiys’ky" ('Olympic'). Kievans still commonly refer to it as the Tsentralny (Central) or Respublykanskyi stadion (Republican Stadium), and the nearby metro station is also called Respublykanskyi Stadion.

In 1997–99 the stadium was reconstructed again in accordance to FIFA guidelines, and its capacity reduced to 83,450. The stadium is currently used primarily for football matches, including international and high-profile home games of FC Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League, when a high turnout is expected. However, it is not the official home ground of Dynamo or any other Kiev club, as they all have smaller home stadiums and training bases. The stadium is an official home ground of the Ukraine national football team.

On 18 April 2007, Poland and Ukraine were chosen to co-host Euro 2012, the finals of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship,[2] with the Olimpiysky set to host the final.[3] There are plans to refurbish the stadium for the tournament – a roof is expected to be built and the capacity decreased to 83,300.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The ramp found little use and had become dilapidated by the late 1990s. It was finally dismantled in 2004
    Kiev Ramp at Interesting Kiev (Russian)
  2. ^ Poland and Ukraine host Euro 2012 – BBC News, 18 April 2007.Accessed: 2007-08-28.
  3. ^ Ukraine Government Portal, 25 June 2007.Accessed: 2007-0/-28.
  4. ^ Host Cities – Organizing committee's website. Undated.Accessed: 200-08-28.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Ernst Happel Stadion
Vienna		 UEFA European Football Championship
Final Venue
2012		 Succeeded by
2016 Final Venue

Coordinates: 50°26′0.38″N, 30°31′19.61″E