Olympic Stadium Amsterdam

Olympic Stadium Amsterdam
The Amsterdam Olympic Stadium in 2004
Data
place	Olympic Stadium 2 1076 Amsterdam , The Netherlands
Coordinates	52 ° 20 '36 "  N , 4 ° 51' 15"  E Coordinates: 52 ° 20 '36 "  N , 4 ° 51' 15"  E
start of building	1927
opening	July 28, 1928
Renovations	1997-2000
surface	Natural grass
architect	Jan Wils André van Stigt
capacity	22,288 seats
Societies)
Blauw Wit Amsterdam (1928–1967) Ajax Amsterdam (until 1996) Amsterdam Admirals (1995 and 1996)
Events
1928 Summer Olympics UCI track world championships 1938 UCI track world championships 1948 Start of the Tour de France 1954 KNVB cup final 1958 1959 UCI Track World Championships Final in the International Football Cup 1961/62 Final in the European Cup of National Champions 1961/62 The Amsterdam Rock Circus 1972 Start and finish of the Amsterdam Marathon (since 1975) Final in the European Cup Winners' Cup 1976/77 Final in the KNVB Cup 1977/78 UCI Track World Championships 1979 1980/81 UEFA Cup final Speedway individual world championship final 1987 World Gymnaestrada 1991 1991/92 UEFA Cup final Dutch Football Supercup 1994 European Athletics Championships 2016 World speed skating championship 2018

The Olympic Stadium Amsterdam ( Dutch Olympic Stadium ) is a football stadium with athletics track in the Amsterdam district Stadionbuurt ( Netherlands ). It was built as the main venue for the 1928 Summer Olympics and designed by the Dutch architect Jan Wils . The complex is a listed building as a Rijksmonument .

history

According to the original plans for the 1928 Summer Games, the Old Stadium , which was completed in 1914, also known as the Harry Elte Stadium after its architect, or simply Het Stadion (“The Stadium”), was to be converted into the Olympic Stadium. The old stadium was right next to today's Olympic Stadium and was the largest football stadium in Amsterdam with a capacity of 29,000 until 1928. For urban planning reasons, it was finally decided to build a new Olympic stadium. The old stadium served as the venue for hockey games during the Olympic Games and was then demolished.

The Olympic Stadium had a capacity of 34,000 spectators when it was completed. After the construction of De Kuip in Rotterdam in 1937, the city of Amsterdam decided to expand the stadium to 64,000 seats. Jan Wils designed a second ring of spectator stands.

After the Olympic Games of 1928, the stadium was regularly used for various sporting events, including athletics , speedway , hockey and cycling . The 1954 Tour de France started outside the stadium; three times - in 1938 , 1948 and 1959 - the UCI track world championships were held on the now defunct cycling track there . The most important users, however, were the football clubs Blauw Wit Amsterdam and Amsterdamsche FC DWS (both merged to FC Amsterdam in 1972 ), whose home ground was the Olympic Stadium. In 1962 the final for the European Cup between Benfica Lisbon and Real Madrid took place in the Olympic Stadium (final score 5: 3).

Ajax Amsterdam used the stadium for home games, where the expected number of spectators exceeded the capacity of their own De Meer Stadium , and for games on weekdays that required the use of floodlights. Among other things, Ajax wore the 1992 final second leg of the UEFA Cup against Torino Calcio in the Olympic Stadium, in which it secured the title with a 0-0 win. Already in 1981 AZ Alkmaar had played the final second leg against Ipswich Town in the same place , but could not win the title. In 1987 the Speedway Individual World Championship final took place in the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium over two days. Ajax Amsterdam used the Olympic Stadium until the Amsterdam Arena opened in 1996.

The Olympic Stadium was then dismantled according to plans by the architect André van Stigt , which were based on Wils' architectural drawings, and brought closer to its original state. The second ring from 1937 was removed, as was the concrete cycle track. The stadium once again became an example of the Amsterdam School's architectural style . It was reopened on May 13, 1997 by Prince Willem-Alexander and is now used in the sports sector, mainly for athletics competitions.

After Amsterdam's bid for the European Athletics Championships in 2016 was successful and the Dutch capital prevailed against Istanbul ( Turkey ) and Split ( Croatia ) on November 4, 2011 , the European Championships finally took place in the Olympic Stadium in 2016.

In March 2018, the speed skating all-around world championship took place in the Olympic Stadium from 1928. After the 2001 World Cup, it was the first all-around world championship to be held in the open air.

gallery

• 

  The "Old Stadium" (1914–1928)

• 

  The Olympic Stadium in 1928

• 

  First day of the 2016 European Athletics Championships in the Olympic Stadium

See also

• Olympic house

Web links

Commons : Olympic Stadium Amsterdam  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• olympischstadion.nl: Official website (Dutch)
• stadionwelt.de: picture gallery
• Olympiastadion Amsterdam as a 3D model in SketchUp's 3D warehouse

Individual evidence

1. ↑ biodata.asp4all.nl: Data on the Olympic Stadium ( Memento from February 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) ( PDF , 25.7 MB, Dutch)
2. ↑ handelsblatt.com: European Athletics Championships 2016 in Amsterdam  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ rp-online.de: Pechstein only 15th halfway through the all-around world championships  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Article of March 9, 2018