Olympic_Stadium_(Athens)

Olympic Stadium (Athens)

The Olympic Stadium (Ολυμπιακό Στάδιο), is a stadium that is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. It is also known as the Athens Olympic Stadium, and Spiridon "Spiros" Louis Stadium, named after the man to win the first (modern) Olympic marathon race in 1896.

History

Located in the area of Maroussi in Athens, it is the major Greek stadium and hosted the athletics events and the football (soccer) final at the 2004 Summer Olympics. It also hosted the opening ceremony on August 13, 2004, and the closing ceremony on August 29, 2004. The stadium's record attendance is 74,473 but it was configured to seat 72,000 during the Olympics, 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.

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 Olympics, including a controversial roof designed by Santiago Calatrava that was added atop the sidelines. The roof was completed just in time for the opening of the Games, and the stadium was then officially re-opened on July 30, 2004.

The Olympic Stadium has been used at various times as a home ground by the three major football clubs of Athens, Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. Panathinaikos has been using the stadium regularly since 2005 for its matches. In the 2007-08 season, they returned to Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, their old home ground for the clubs centenary season. For the 2008-09 season, they will return to Athens Olympic Stadium until the new stadium, the Votanikos Arena, is built.

The stadium hosted the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final on May 23, 2007 between AC Milan and Liverpool FC, which was won 2-1 by AC Milan. This stadium also hosted the 1994 UEFA Champions League Final (which was also won by AC Milan), the 1983 European Cup Final as well as the 1987 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. On September 27, 2008, Artists as Madonna, Guns N' Roses, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones gave concerts in Athens there.