Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is the only stadium to have hosted the Olympic Games twice. That is remarkable enough in itself, but the fact that these Olympics were over 50 years apart – in 1932 and 1984 – makes it quite astonishing. The same venue has also hosted two American Football Super Bowls and a baseball World Series.
Work on the stadium, designed by John and Donald Parkinson, began in December 1921 and was completed in May 1923. It opened its doors to the Los Angeles public the following month and the first American Football game was played in the stadium on 6th October 1923, with the University of Southern California hosting Pomona College before a crowd of just 12,836. It was a modest beginning for such a prestigious venue.
The original cost of less than 1million US dollars seems ludicrously low by today’s standards, but that bought a lot of stadium in the early 1920s. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is 316 metres long, 225m wide, 36m tall and covers 17 acres. The original capacity of 76,000 was expanded to 101,574 for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics in a renovation that cost as much as the original construction.
Olympic Torch
There are 15 arches at the Peristyle end of the Coliseum and the centre arch, which houses the Olympic torch, is six metres wide and over 13m high. Between the arches are plaques recognising many of the memorable events and participants in Coliseum history, including a full list of 1932 and 1984 Olympic gold medallists.
The Olympic torch, originally built for the 1932 Olympics, is 46m above ground level and 55m above field level. The torch, or cauldron, is now ignited by the flip of a switch in the Coliseum scoreboard control room, and is still lit during the fourth quarter of USC American Football games and on special occasions, such as when the Olympics are being held in another city.
In 1932, the Coliseum hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field at the 10th Olympiad, which marked the introduction of the Olympic village as well as the victory podium. On 27th July 1984, the day before the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics, the Coliseum was declared a US National Historic Landmark.
Nude Bronzes
Sculptor Robert Graham created a ceremonial gateway for the Coliseum when the Games returned to Los Angeles for the 23rd Olympiad. The gateway featured two life-size, nude, bronze torsos – one male and one female. Graham modelled the torsos on American water polo player Terry Schroeder and Guyanese long jumper Jennifer Innis, both of whom participated in the Games. The gateway was a major design element of an Olympiad noted for its lack of new construction, and the nudity of the torsos became an issue in the media.
With the Coliseum hosting Games so far apart, it witnessed athletes from entirely different generations. There were outstanding achievements at both Games nonetheless and home-grown heroines and heroes. American swimmer Helene Madison was a triple gold medallist in 1932 and 52 years later track and field star Carl Lewis went one better with four golds.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Plans For The London 2012 Olympic Stadium
A unique 80,000-seat stadium will be the flagship venue for the London 2012 Olympic Games. An innovative design allows for the stadium – which will host the opening and closing ceremonies and the athletics events – to be converted into a more easily maintained 25,000-seat permanent venue after the Olympics, when it will become a new home for athletics, combined with other sporting, community, cultural and educational uses.
An Olympic stadium with such a large demountable element has never been attempted before and the design represents the start of a new era for Olympic stadium design; more use of temporary elements combining the high-level performance needed for a major sports event alongside the long-term needs of the community.
The stadium will be at the south of the Olympic park on an island site surrounded on three sides by waterways, within easy walking distance of the Olympic village and warm-up facilities. More than a thousand workers will help build the main venue for the 2012 Olympics and it will feature:
* A sunken bowl built into the ground for the field of play and lower permanent seating, designed to bring spectators close to the action.
* A cable-supported roof that will stretch 28metres the whole way around the stadium, providing cover for two thirds of spectators.
* A 20m-high fabric curtain, or wrap, that will encircle the 900m circumference of the stadium, acting as additional protection and shelter for spectators. Artists will create a large mural on the wrap of historical sporting champions, participating countries’ flags and sponsor logos, giving the stadium its distinctive appearance.
* Self-contained pod structures, which will house catering and merchandising facilities, adding to the spectator experience around the access level of the stadium.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on site to see construction officially begin on the stadium for the London Olympics on 22nd May 2008. By September 2008, more than 100 columns, each five metres tall had been constructed to support the podium of the stadium’s west and south stands. This also forms the lower ground floor of the west stand, which houses athletes’ changing rooms and other back of house facilities, such as doping control and treatment rooms. The foundations for the stadium were also nearing completion, with more than 3,500 of the 4,000 permanent piles installed in the ground.
Work Finishes In 2011
Team Stadium have been given the task of constructing the main venue for the London Olympics, having already worked on Arsenal’s 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, and Telstra Stadium (formerly Stadium Australia). The latter, venue for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, held 110,000 spectators during the Games and was reconfigured to 80,000 seats after the Olympics. Construction on the stadium for the 2012 Olympics is due to be complete in 2011, in time for test events to take place before the Games.
Chair of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee Seb Coe said: “The stadium will be inspiring, innovative and sustainable; the theatre within which the Olympics and Paralympics will be played out and leaving behind top class sporting and community facilities after the Games. We genuinely believe that this creates a new blueprint for building Olympic stadia, one which integrates Games time requirements with a long-term legacy vision.”
An Olympic stadium with such a large demountable element has never been attempted before and the design represents the start of a new era for Olympic stadium design; more use of temporary elements combining the high-level performance needed for a major sports event alongside the long-term needs of the community.
The stadium will be at the south of the Olympic park on an island site surrounded on three sides by waterways, within easy walking distance of the Olympic village and warm-up facilities. More than a thousand workers will help build the main venue for the 2012 Olympics and it will feature:
* A sunken bowl built into the ground for the field of play and lower permanent seating, designed to bring spectators close to the action.
* A cable-supported roof that will stretch 28metres the whole way around the stadium, providing cover for two thirds of spectators.
* A 20m-high fabric curtain, or wrap, that will encircle the 900m circumference of the stadium, acting as additional protection and shelter for spectators. Artists will create a large mural on the wrap of historical sporting champions, participating countries’ flags and sponsor logos, giving the stadium its distinctive appearance.
* Self-contained pod structures, which will house catering and merchandising facilities, adding to the spectator experience around the access level of the stadium.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on site to see construction officially begin on the stadium for the London Olympics on 22nd May 2008. By September 2008, more than 100 columns, each five metres tall had been constructed to support the podium of the stadium’s west and south stands. This also forms the lower ground floor of the west stand, which houses athletes’ changing rooms and other back of house facilities, such as doping control and treatment rooms. The foundations for the stadium were also nearing completion, with more than 3,500 of the 4,000 permanent piles installed in the ground.
Work Finishes In 2011
Team Stadium have been given the task of constructing the main venue for the London Olympics, having already worked on Arsenal’s 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, and Telstra Stadium (formerly Stadium Australia). The latter, venue for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, held 110,000 spectators during the Games and was reconfigured to 80,000 seats after the Olympics. Construction on the stadium for the 2012 Olympics is due to be complete in 2011, in time for test events to take place before the Games.
Chair of the London 2012 Olympic organising committee Seb Coe said: “The stadium will be inspiring, innovative and sustainable; the theatre within which the Olympics and Paralympics will be played out and leaving behind top class sporting and community facilities after the Games. We genuinely believe that this creates a new blueprint for building Olympic stadia, one which integrates Games time requirements with a long-term legacy vision.”
Sydney, The Largest Stadium In Olympic History
Sydney began to build the biggest stadium in the history of the Olympic Games in September 1996. By March 1999, the jewel in Sydney’s Olympic crown was complete. With 110,000 seats, the Sydney Olympic stadium was the largest the Games had ever seen, taking the record from the 101,000-seat stadium in Los Angeles, host of the 23rd Olympiad in 1984.
The stadium project cost approximately £302million. This included £246million in design and construction costs, £14million in surrounding precinct works and £42million in development and financing costs.
There was a further £36million invested in the stadium after the 2000 Olympics. The post-Games reconfiguration work involved the installation of an oval arena, moving stands on the east and west, roofing over the north and south stands and a new tier on the north stand. In its final configuration, the Stadium has a capacity of 82,000 for oval sports, such as AFL and cricket, and a capacity of 83,500 in rectangular mode for rugby union, rugby league and football. It can switch between these modes regularly.
Funding Construction
The bulk of the construction costs – more than £250million of the initial £302million – was funded through private debt or equity and the balance through the New South Wales government. When the lease expires in 2031, the stadium reverts to NSW government ownership.
Throughout the Sydney 2000 Olympics, indeed from the time the stadium opened in 1999 until 2002, the area was known as Stadium Australia. In 2002, telecommunications company Telstra acquired naming rights, and the stadium became known as Telstra Stadium. Then, in 2007, ANZ Bank clinched a sponsorship deal worth around £14million over seven years and so the stadium’s name changed again, to ANZ Stadium.
As the flagship arena for the Games of the 27th Olympiad, the stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field and the Olympic football final, allowing huge audiences to witness some of the most significant and memorable events of the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Stadium Layout
The stadium featured a Mondo Sportflex Super X 400metres, eight-lane track, with nine lanes in the front straight. At the north end of the stadium were two shot circles, one concentric hammer/discus circle, a javelin runway and two double ended pole vault runways, while to the south were two shot circles, one concentric hammer/discus circle, a javelin runway and two high jump areas. The steeplechase water jump was on the outside of the main track, and two combined triple jump, long jump and pole vault runways were on the outside of the track on the back straight.
It was this arena that saw the defining moment of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Cathy Freeman, who had been given the honour of lighting the Olympic flame to start the Games, brought a packed stadium to its feet with a rousing run in the women’s 400m final.
It was a performance the whole nation had been waiting for and, as Freeman became the first Aboriginal to win a gold medal in athletics, it was a moment of great symbolism for the new Australia.
The stadium project cost approximately £302million. This included £246million in design and construction costs, £14million in surrounding precinct works and £42million in development and financing costs.
There was a further £36million invested in the stadium after the 2000 Olympics. The post-Games reconfiguration work involved the installation of an oval arena, moving stands on the east and west, roofing over the north and south stands and a new tier on the north stand. In its final configuration, the Stadium has a capacity of 82,000 for oval sports, such as AFL and cricket, and a capacity of 83,500 in rectangular mode for rugby union, rugby league and football. It can switch between these modes regularly.
Funding Construction
The bulk of the construction costs – more than £250million of the initial £302million – was funded through private debt or equity and the balance through the New South Wales government. When the lease expires in 2031, the stadium reverts to NSW government ownership.
Throughout the Sydney 2000 Olympics, indeed from the time the stadium opened in 1999 until 2002, the area was known as Stadium Australia. In 2002, telecommunications company Telstra acquired naming rights, and the stadium became known as Telstra Stadium. Then, in 2007, ANZ Bank clinched a sponsorship deal worth around £14million over seven years and so the stadium’s name changed again, to ANZ Stadium.
As the flagship arena for the Games of the 27th Olympiad, the stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field and the Olympic football final, allowing huge audiences to witness some of the most significant and memorable events of the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Stadium Layout
The stadium featured a Mondo Sportflex Super X 400metres, eight-lane track, with nine lanes in the front straight. At the north end of the stadium were two shot circles, one concentric hammer/discus circle, a javelin runway and two double ended pole vault runways, while to the south were two shot circles, one concentric hammer/discus circle, a javelin runway and two high jump areas. The steeplechase water jump was on the outside of the main track, and two combined triple jump, long jump and pole vault runways were on the outside of the track on the back straight.
It was this arena that saw the defining moment of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Cathy Freeman, who had been given the honour of lighting the Olympic flame to start the Games, brought a packed stadium to its feet with a rousing run in the women’s 400m final.
It was a performance the whole nation had been waiting for and, as Freeman became the first Aboriginal to win a gold medal in athletics, it was a moment of great symbolism for the new Australia.
The Race To Finish The Athens Olympic Stadium
In the run-up to the 2004 Olympic Games, the Athens Olympic stadium was a symbol of the problems that dogged the Greek city’s preparations. An ambitious glass and steel roof, the brainchild of internationally-renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, led to delays and held up other work on the stadium.
In 1997, Athens had won the right to stage the Olympics, but three years later came an International Olympic Committee (IOC) warning that the delay-stricken city risked losing the event. From then until only weeks before the opening ceremony, Athens was the target for constant criticism.
The stadium itself had a long history of hosting football and major athletics events, having been designed in 1979 and built in time to host the European Athletics Championships in 1982, but underwent a dramatic facelift. Calatrava’s roof structure, a 18,000 tonnes, £124million glass and steel dome over the main Olympic stadium, was meant to be in place by the end of April, but fell well behind schedule. There were delays in putting the two roof arches into place, and final preparations continued into the weeks before the opening ceremony on 13th August.
Test Event A Success
The only test event – the Greek national championships – was staged in June and went off without a hitch, even though the area around the stadium was still rubble. Aktor SA, Greece's largest construction company and the leader of the construction joint venture charged with building many of the Olympic facilities, did not hand over the Olympic stadium to the Athens 2004 organising committee until 6th August.
So Athens had won its race to deliver the 2004 Olympics. There had been some anxious moments along the way, but the IOC’s warnings to speed up work had been heeded. The 72,000-seat stadium, also known as the Spiridon "Spiros" Louis Stadium after the winner of the first modern Olympic marathon in 1896, went on to host the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics and football.
The stadium roof, a highly complex construction that incorporates the world’s largest single span arch of approximately 305 metres long, dominates the city skyline and created a signature image for the 2004 Olympics.
Construction Problems
Aktor managing director Dimitrios Kallitsantsis explained the unique construction problems developers had faced during the race against time in Athens. “The sheer scale of the event and the use of dynamic design and architecture bring a unique set of issues and challenges. Some can be anticipated, but, by its very uniqueness, some cannot."
”Athens is an ancient city. Any responsible developer is acutely aware of the problems associated with dealing with both an archaeologically and tectonically sensitive site. Prior to our instruction, the authorities had to deal with a number of unexpected delays, associated with site acquisition, securing the necessary consents and fulfilling all statutory archaeological requirements of the Attica region."
“Specifically, for the stadium, this meant that the time left available for the development process was less than originally anticipated. We were finally instructed to start building the Olympic facilities at the beginning of 2003.”
In 1997, Athens had won the right to stage the Olympics, but three years later came an International Olympic Committee (IOC) warning that the delay-stricken city risked losing the event. From then until only weeks before the opening ceremony, Athens was the target for constant criticism.
The stadium itself had a long history of hosting football and major athletics events, having been designed in 1979 and built in time to host the European Athletics Championships in 1982, but underwent a dramatic facelift. Calatrava’s roof structure, a 18,000 tonnes, £124million glass and steel dome over the main Olympic stadium, was meant to be in place by the end of April, but fell well behind schedule. There were delays in putting the two roof arches into place, and final preparations continued into the weeks before the opening ceremony on 13th August.
Test Event A Success
The only test event – the Greek national championships – was staged in June and went off without a hitch, even though the area around the stadium was still rubble. Aktor SA, Greece's largest construction company and the leader of the construction joint venture charged with building many of the Olympic facilities, did not hand over the Olympic stadium to the Athens 2004 organising committee until 6th August.
So Athens had won its race to deliver the 2004 Olympics. There had been some anxious moments along the way, but the IOC’s warnings to speed up work had been heeded. The 72,000-seat stadium, also known as the Spiridon "Spiros" Louis Stadium after the winner of the first modern Olympic marathon in 1896, went on to host the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics and football.
The stadium roof, a highly complex construction that incorporates the world’s largest single span arch of approximately 305 metres long, dominates the city skyline and created a signature image for the 2004 Olympics.
Construction Problems
Aktor managing director Dimitrios Kallitsantsis explained the unique construction problems developers had faced during the race against time in Athens. “The sheer scale of the event and the use of dynamic design and architecture bring a unique set of issues and challenges. Some can be anticipated, but, by its very uniqueness, some cannot."
”Athens is an ancient city. Any responsible developer is acutely aware of the problems associated with dealing with both an archaeologically and tectonically sensitive site. Prior to our instruction, the authorities had to deal with a number of unexpected delays, associated with site acquisition, securing the necessary consents and fulfilling all statutory archaeological requirements of the Attica region."
“Specifically, for the stadium, this meant that the time left available for the development process was less than originally anticipated. We were finally instructed to start building the Olympic facilities at the beginning of 2003.”
The Spectacular Bird's Nest Stadium Beijing
The spectacular Bird’s Nest stadium was the centrepiece of the most expensive Olympic Games in history. At £250million, the arena cost just a fraction of the £20billion spent on venues and infrastructure in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics. The huge spend in Beijing is more than double the budget for London 2012.
The 91,000-seat stadium incorporates a gourmet restaurant with views of the athletics track, a four-star hotel with 80 rooms under one of its sides and a twin-level underground shopping centre. It was designed to be one of the most environmentally-friendly stadia in the world, as rainwater is collected and stored in underground cisterns for irrigation and to flush lavatories. Undersoil geothermal pipes help heat indoor parts of the stadium in winter.
Nevertheless, the stadium has caused a deal of controversy. Some 6,000 homes were demolished to make way for it and there were claims that 10 people died in accidents during the four years it took to build, although the Chinese government confirmed only two deaths.
Flagship Arena
The flagship arena for the Beijing Olympics was designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who up until then were best known for designing the tyre-shaped Allianz Arena in Munich for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and for converting London’s Bankside power station into Tate Modern.
The revolutionary design for the Bird’s Nest was chosen at the end of a six-month international competition. It is three times as heavy as the proposed London 2012 stadium due to an outer skeleton of 42,000 tons of steel. An inner double-layer of plastic filters out UVA light keeps out wind and rain.
The Bird’s Nest stadium was designed to withstand a force eight magnitude earthquake and last for 100 years. It has been hailed as the finest arena in the world and architectural critics have said it sets standards of construction which may not be surpassed for decades. Even so, construction of the Bird’s Nest was halted after a terminal building at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris collapsed. This was because the Beijing stadium shared some architectural elements with the terminal building, so the design was altered before construction recommenced.
Hidden Symbolism
The iconic Bird’s Nest stadium was introduced to the world as 35,000 fireworks were launched from 1,800 sites around the city during the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. What many people may not realise is that the stadium is full of hidden symbolism.
In Chinese mythology, the sun is represented by a circle and the moon by a square, reflected by the shape of the Bird’s Nest and the nearby Water Cube, which hosted swimming and diving events at the Beijing Olympics. This symbolism was reinforced when the venues were lit at night – red for the Bird's Nest and blue for the Water Cube. The shapes also echo the Chinese symbols for male and female, and are built either side of the north-south axis road, which for three miles runs in a perfect straight line through Beijing, centred on the Forbidden City.
The Bird’s Nest will always be remembered as the venue that hosted some of the most spectacular athletic performances in Olympic history. Star of the show was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who set three remarkable world records as he won the 100metres, 200metres and 4x100metres relay titles at the Beijing Olympics.
The 91,000-seat stadium incorporates a gourmet restaurant with views of the athletics track, a four-star hotel with 80 rooms under one of its sides and a twin-level underground shopping centre. It was designed to be one of the most environmentally-friendly stadia in the world, as rainwater is collected and stored in underground cisterns for irrigation and to flush lavatories. Undersoil geothermal pipes help heat indoor parts of the stadium in winter.
Nevertheless, the stadium has caused a deal of controversy. Some 6,000 homes were demolished to make way for it and there were claims that 10 people died in accidents during the four years it took to build, although the Chinese government confirmed only two deaths.
Flagship Arena
The flagship arena for the Beijing Olympics was designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who up until then were best known for designing the tyre-shaped Allianz Arena in Munich for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and for converting London’s Bankside power station into Tate Modern.
The revolutionary design for the Bird’s Nest was chosen at the end of a six-month international competition. It is three times as heavy as the proposed London 2012 stadium due to an outer skeleton of 42,000 tons of steel. An inner double-layer of plastic filters out UVA light keeps out wind and rain.
The Bird’s Nest stadium was designed to withstand a force eight magnitude earthquake and last for 100 years. It has been hailed as the finest arena in the world and architectural critics have said it sets standards of construction which may not be surpassed for decades. Even so, construction of the Bird’s Nest was halted after a terminal building at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris collapsed. This was because the Beijing stadium shared some architectural elements with the terminal building, so the design was altered before construction recommenced.
Hidden Symbolism
The iconic Bird’s Nest stadium was introduced to the world as 35,000 fireworks were launched from 1,800 sites around the city during the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. What many people may not realise is that the stadium is full of hidden symbolism.
In Chinese mythology, the sun is represented by a circle and the moon by a square, reflected by the shape of the Bird’s Nest and the nearby Water Cube, which hosted swimming and diving events at the Beijing Olympics. This symbolism was reinforced when the venues were lit at night – red for the Bird's Nest and blue for the Water Cube. The shapes also echo the Chinese symbols for male and female, and are built either side of the north-south axis road, which for three miles runs in a perfect straight line through Beijing, centred on the Forbidden City.
The Bird’s Nest will always be remembered as the venue that hosted some of the most spectacular athletic performances in Olympic history. Star of the show was Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who set three remarkable world records as he won the 100metres, 200metres and 4x100metres relay titles at the Beijing Olympics.