Olympic Stadium (Athens)
The Olympic Stadium "Spiros Louis" (Greek: Ολυμπιακό Στάδιο "Σπύρος Λούης", Olympiakó Stádio "Spiros Louis"), is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. It is named after the first modern Olympic marathon race winner in 1896, Spiros Louis.
History
Located in the area of Marousi in Athens, the stadium was originally designed in 1979 and built in 1980–1982. It was completed in time to host the 1982 European Championships in Athletics. It was inaugurated by the President of Greece, at the time Konstantinos Karamanlis, on 8 September 1982. It also hosted several events of the 1991 Mediterranean Games and the 1997 World Championships in Athletics, sought in order to prove that it was capable of hosting major sporting events after the failure of Athens to win the 1996 Summer Olympics.
It was extensively renovated in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics, including a roof designed by Santiago Calatrava, and innovatively positioned with Enerpac hydraulics. [3] The roof was added atop the sidelines and completed just in time for the opening of the Games. The stadium was then officially re-opened on 30 July 2004. It hosted the athletics events and the football final at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[4] It also hosted the opening ceremony on 13 August 2004, and the closing ceremony on 29 August 2004. The stadium's attendance was reduced to 71,030 for the Olympics, the initial capacity was some 75,000, though only 56,700 seats were made publicly available for the track and field events and slightly more for the football final. The turf system consists of natural grass in modular containers which incorporate irrigation and drainage systems.
Major events
It has been used at various times as a home ground by the three major football clubs of the Athens area, AEK Athens, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos Piraeus. The record attendance for a football match has been 75,263 in a clash between Olympiacos and Hamburg on 3 November 1983.
It hosted the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final on 23 May between AC Milan and Liverpool, which was won 2–1 by Milan, the 1994 Final also won by Milan, the 1983 Final as well as the 1987 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final.
The stadium played host to Amnesty International's Human Rights Now! Benefit Concert on 3 October 1988. The show was headlined by Sting and Peter Gabriel and also featured Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tracy Chapman, Youssou N'Dour and George Dalaras.
P!nk was scheduled to perform during her I'm Not Dead Tour on 19 July 2007, but she cancelled the show, due to illness.[5]
U2 performed in front of a crowd of 82,662, during their 360° Tour on 3 September 2010, making it the highest attended concert ever held in Greece.
Pyx Lax performed also in front of a crowd of about 80,000, during their reunion tour in 13 July 2011. It was the highest attended Greek-band-concert.
Bon Jovi performed during their Bon Jovi Live Tour on 20 July 2011. The show was successful and almost sold out.
Red Hot Chilli Peppers are scheduled to perform as part of their worldwide concert tour at the stadium on September 4, 2012.
Gallery
See also
References
External links
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1896: Marathon (city), Panathinaiko Stadium • 1900: Croix-Catelan Stadium • 1904: Francis Field • 1908: White City Stadium • 1912: Stockholm Olympic Stadium • 1920: Olympisch Stadion • 1924: Stade de Colombes • 1928: Olympic Stadium • 1932: Olympic Stadium, Riverside Drive at Griffith Park • 1936: Avus Motor Road, Olympic Stadium • 1948: Empire Stadium • 1952: Olympic Stadium • 1956: Melbourne Cricket Ground • 1960: Arch of Constantine, Raccordo Anulare, Stadio Olimpico, Via Appia Antica, Via Cristoforo Colombo • 1964: Fuchu City, Karasuyama-machi, National Stadium, Sasazuka-machi, Shinjuku • 1968: Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Zócalo • 1972: Olympiastadion • 1976: Montreal Botanical Garden, Olympic Stadium, Streets of Montreal • 1980: Grand Arena, Streets of Moscow • 1984: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Santa Monica College, Streets of Los Angeles, Streets of Santa Monica • 1988: Olympic Stadium, Streets of Seoul • 1992: Estadi Olímpic de Monjuïc, Marathon course, Mataró, Walking course • 1996: Marathon course, Olympic Stadium, Walking course • 2000: Marathon course, North Sydney, Olympic Stadium • 2004: Marathon (city), Olympic Stadium, Panathinaiko Stadium, Stadium at Olympia • 2008: Beijing National Stadium • 2012: Marathon Course, Olympic Stadium • 2016: Flamengo Park, João Havelange Stadium, Sambódromo
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1900: Vélodrome de Vincennes · 1904: Francis Field · 1908: White City Stadium · 1912: Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm Olympic Stadium (final), Traneberg · 1920: Jules Ottenstadion, Olympisch Stadion (final), Stade Joseph Marien, Stadion Broodstraat · 1924: Stade Bergeyre, Stade de Colombes (final), Stade de Paris, Stade Pershing · 1928: Monnikenhuize, Olympic Stadium (final), Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel · 1936: Hertha-BSC Field, Mommsenstadion, Olympic Stadium (final), Poststadion · 1948: Arsenal Stadium, Champion Hill, Craven Cottage, Cricklefield Stadium, Empire Stadium (medal matches), Green Pond Road, Griffin Park, Selhurst Park, White Hart Lane · 1952: Helsinki Football Grounds, Kotka, Lahti, Olympic Stadium (final), Tampere, Turku · 1956: Melbourne Cricket Ground (final), Olympic Park Stadium · 1960: Florence Communal Stadium, Grosseto Communal Stadium, L'Aquila Communal Stadium, Livorno Ardenza Stadium, Naples Saint Paul's Stadium, Pescara Adriatic Stadium, Stadio Flaminio (final) · 1964: Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, Mitsuzawa Football Field, Nagai Stadium, Tokyo National Stadium (final), Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium, Ōmiya Football Field, Prince Chichiba Memorial Football Field · 1968: Estadio Azteca (final), Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Estadio Nou Camp, Jalisco Stadium · 1972: Drei Flüsse Stadion, ESV-Stadion, Jahnstadion, Olympiastadion (final), Rosenaustadion, Urban Stadium · 1976: Lansdowne Park, Olympic Stadium (final), Sherbrooke Stadium, Varsity Stadium · 1980: Dynama Stadium, Dynamo Central Stadium, Grand Arena, Grand Arena (final), Kirov Stadium, Republican Stadium · 1984: Harvard Stadium, Navy – Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Rose Bowl (final), Stanford Stadium · 1988: Buson Stadium, Daegu Stadium, Daejeon Stadium, Dongdaemun Stadium, Olympic Stadium (final) · 1992: Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta, Estadi del FC Barcelona (final), Estadio Luís Casanova, La Romareda, RCD Espanyol Stadium · 1996: Florida Citrus Bowl, Legion Field, Orange Bowl, RFK Memorial Stadium, Sanford Stadium (final) · 2000: Brisbane Cricket Ground, Bruce Stadium, Hindmarsh Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Olympic Stadium (men's final), Sydney Football Stadium (women's final) · 2004: Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Karaiskakis Stadium, Olympic Stadium (final), Pampeloponnisiako Stadium, Pankritio Stadium, Panthessaliko Stadium · 2008: Beijing National Stadium (final), Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Shanghai Stadium, Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Workers Stadium · 2012: City of Coventry Stadium, Hampden Park, Millennium Stadium, St James' Park, Wembley Stadium (final) · 2016: Estádio Nacional de Brasília, Arena Fonte Nova, Estádio do Maracanã, Mineirão, Estádio do Morumbi
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