Helsinki Olympic Stadium

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Helsinki Olympic Stadium
Helsingin olympiastadion
Helsingfors Olympiastadion
"Stadikka"
Olympiastadion 2 2020-08-12.jpg
LocationHelsinki, Finland
Coordinates60°11′13″N 024°55′38″E / 60.18694°N 24.92722°E / 60.18694; 24.92722Coordinates: 60°11′13″N 024°55′38″E / 60.18694°N 24.92722°E / 60.18694; 24.92722
OwnerStadion-säätiö
Capacity36,200
Field size105 m × 68 m (115 yd × 74 yd)[1]
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke ground12 February 1934
Opened12 June 1938
Renovated1939, 1947–1952, 1953–1956, 1961, 1971, 1991–1994, 1997–1998, 2004–2005, 2010–2011, 2016–2020
ArchitectYrjö Lindegren and
Tenants
Finland national football team
Finnish Athletics Federation

The Helsinki Olympic Stadium (Finnish: Helsingin Olympiastadion; Swedish: Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used for hosting sports events and big concerts. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer Olympics. During those games, it hosted athletics, equestrian show jumping, and the football finals.

The stadium was also the venue for the first Bandy World Championship in 1957, the first World Athletics Championships in 1983 as well as for the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. It hosted the European Athletics Championships in 1971, 1994 and 2012. It is also the home stadium of the Finland national football team.

The stadium reopened in August 2020 after 4 years of renovation.[2]

History[]

Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 1938 soon after its completion. The stadium, first built for the 1940 Olympics, had to wait until 1952 for its intended use as an arena for the Olympic games as the war led to the cancellation of the event.

The Olympic Stadium was designed in functionalistic style by the architects Yrjö Lindegren and Construction of the Olympic Stadium began in 1934 and it was completed in 1938, with the intent to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were moved from Tokyo to Helsinki before being cancelled due to World War II. It hosted the 1952 Summer Olympics over a decade later instead. The stadium was also to be the main venue for the cancelled 1943 Workers' Summer Olympiad.

It was the venue for the first ever Bandy World Championship in 1957.

The stadium was completely modernized in 1990–1994 and also renovated just before the 2005 World Championships in Athletics.

In 2006, an American TV series, The Amazing Race 10, had one of its episodes ending at The Olympic Stadium Tower. As a task, teams had to do a face-first rappel (known as the Angel Dive) down the Helsinki Olympic Tower.

Since March 2007, a Eurasian eagle-owl has been spotted living in and around the stadium. On June 6, 2007, during a Euro 2008 qualifying match, the owl delayed play by ten minutes after perching on a goalpost. The owl was later christened Bubi and was named as Helsinki's Resident of the Year.

Constructing the Helsinki Olympic Stadium

The 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Olympic Games hosted in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium was the main motif for one of the first Finnish euro silver commemorative coins, the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Olympic Games commemorative coin, minted in 2002. On the reverse, a view of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium can be seen. On the right, the 500 markka commemorative coin minted in 1952 celebrating the occasion is depicted.

Features[]

The tower of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, a distinct landmark with a height of 72.71 metres (238.5 ft).

The stadium's spectator capacity was at its maximum during the 1952 Summer Olympics with over 70,000 spectator places. Nowadays the stadium has 40,600 spectator places. During concerts, depending on the size of the stage, the capacity is 45,000–50,000.

The tower of the stadium, a distinct landmark with a height of 72.71 metres (238.5 ft), a measurement of the length of the gold-medal win by Matti Järvinen in javelin throw of 1932 Summer Olympics.

A Youth Hostel is located within the Stadium complex.

Recent[]

Stadium renovation close to finish line in April 2020

Major renovation work at the stadium started in the spring of 2016. During renovation all the spectator stands were covered with canopies and the field area and the tracks were renewed. The stadium now also offers extended restaurant areas and more indoor sport venues.[3] The renovation was completed and the stadium was open to the public in September 2020.

The projected cost of the renovation was expected to consume €197 million in 2016, €261 million in 2019 and ended up at a price of €337 million, which is €140 million (or 70 percent) more than the original projected cost. The Finnish state and the City of Helsinki are the funders of the renovation.[2][4]

Events[]

Sport events[]

Concerts[]

Date Artist(s) Supporting act(s) Tour
2 September 1970 The Rolling Stones Junior Wells All Stars
Buddy Guy
The Rolling Stones European Tour 1970
4 August 1992 Dire Straits Was (Not Was) On Every Street Tour
6 June 1995 The Rolling Stones Robert Cray Voodoo Lounge Tour
19 July 1996 Bon Jovi
Babylon Zoo
These Days Tour
9 August 1996 Tina Turner Wildest Dreams Tour
9 August 1997 U2 Audioweb PopMart Tour
24 August 1997 Michael Jackson HIStory World Tour
26 August 1997
25 June 1998 Elton John
5 August 1998 The Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon Tour
5 August 1999
26 June 2001 AC/DC George Thorogood & The Destroyers Stiff Upper Lip World Tour
16 June 2003 Bruce Springsteen The Rising Tour
17 June 2003
16 July 2003 The Rolling Stones ZZ Top
The Hellacopters
Licks Tour
28 May 2004 Metallica Slipknot
Lostprophets
Madly in Anger with the World Tour
17 June 2004 Paul McCartney 2004 Summer Tour
11 June 2007 Genesis Turn It On Again: The Tour
15 July 2007 Metallica HIM
Diablo
Sick of the Studio '07
1 August 2007 The Rolling Stones Toots & The Maytals A Bigger Bang Tour
16 June 2008 Bon Jovi Lost Highway Tour
11 July 2008 Bruce Springsteen Magic Tour
18 July 2008 Iron Maiden Avenged Sevenfold
Lauren Harris
Somewhere Back in Time World Tour
17 June 2009 AC/DC The Answer
Black Ice World Tour
20 August 2010 U2 Razorlight U2 360° Tour
21 August 2010
17 June 2011 Bon Jovi Block Buster
The Breakers
Bon Jovi Live
8 July 2011 Iron Maiden Alice Cooper The Final Frontier World Tour
31 July 2012 Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball World Tour
12 August 2012 Madonna Martin Solveig The MDNA Tour
20 July 2013 Iron Maiden Amorphis
Sabaton
Ghost
Maiden England World Tour
27 July 2013 Muse Mew
French Films
The 2nd Law World Tour
22 August 2014 Cheek JVG
22 August 2014
27 June 2015 One Direction Isac Elliot
McBusted
On the Road Again Tour
16 August 2015 Jari Sillanpää

References[]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference info was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Olympiastadionin korjauksen hintalappu kallistumassa jälleen – vuosia remonttivasaran alla olleen stadioinin määrä avautua elokuussa". mtvuutiset.fi. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  3. ^ Modernisation and renewal of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium Archived 24 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 20 December 2014
  4. ^ StadiumDB.com: Helsinki: Olympiastadion is great but the price isn’t, 23.01.2021
  5. ^ "UEFA". Twitter. Retrieved 27 March 2020.