All Olympic Stadiums (1896 - 2032)

Do you have your favourite Olympic venue? Maybe there are special memories You want to share about the Games?

The Beijing National Stadium/Bird's Nest is a masterpiece of a stadium! A stadium worthy of a spectacle that the Beijing 2008 opening ceremony was, which remains my favorite opening ceremony. The drummers left me in awe. A masterpiece ceremony in a masterpiece stadium. The stadium was designed by Herzog & de Meuron, ArupSport, and the China Architectural Design & Research Group with Ai Weiwei as artistic consultant. The design implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof which gave the stadium the appearance of a bird's nest. The retractable roof however was later removed from the design after inspiring the stadium's most recognizable aspect. So yeah, despite its nickname of the Bird's Nest, it originally wasn't meant to be a bird's nest! For those who don't know, it was inspired by a combination of the crackle glazed pottery that is local to Beijing, and the heavily veined Chinese scholar stones. This inspiration shows just how passionate the Chinese are with their history and culture. And while not being a bird's nest, architect Li Xinggang (who helped work on the stadium) said it's still a compliment as bird's nest is expensive in China and eating bird's nest is something for special occasions.

The Panathenaic Stadium in Athens during the first modern Olympic games was also both the 2004 Summer Olympics venue for both archery and the finish line of the marathon! The former Centennial Olympic Stadium in Atlanta was actually rebuilt twice. Immediately after the Olympics, it became a baseball stadium as you mentioned for the Atlanta Braves, named Turner Field. But when the Braves departed Turner Field in 2016, Georgia State University took over the stadium and reconfigured it for their college football team. Initially it was called the Georgia State Stadium, but in 2020, the university sold naming rights to a credit union, and it became Center Parc Stadium. During the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Luzhniki Stadium was known as the Central Lenin Stadium, which was the name it received when the stadium opened in 1956. It wouldn't be called Luzhniki Stadium until 1992 after the USSR collapsed in 1991, its name meaning "the meadows" deriving from the flood meadows of the bend of the Moskva River where the stadium was built. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, the Maracanã Stadium was ONLY used for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the semifinals and finals of the football tournaments. Meanwhile, the track and field events were held at the Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, the home stadium of Botafogo, which was renamed after famed Botafogo player Nílton Santos in 2017.

The 1896 Athens Stadium constructed from marble is truely spectacular and stands proud today. I had the amazing experience of being allowed to run a lap around the track as a tourist in 1995 (not sure if that's possible these days). It sent shivers down my spine to have done so at the birthplace of the modern Olympics.

The Athens marathon finishes in the 1896 stadium. One of my favourite endings to any race.

I was a volunteer in 2004, at Panathenaikon Stadium.

Such a great video, all the work put in it, just great!

The 2024 opening ceremony will be held on the Seine River rather than at Stade de France. The 2008 stadium is now known as London Stadium. The 1980 stadium was then known as Central Lenin Stadium, changing its name after the fall of the Soviet Union, and rebuilt as a soccer-specific stadium for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The 1996 stadium became Turner Field when the Atlanta Braves moved in after the games. When the Braves left for a new ballpark, Georgia State University took the stadium over and renovated it for football. Initially called Georgia State Stadium, the university sold naming rights to a local credit union, hence Center Parc Stadium. The 2000 stadium would become Telstra Stadium, ANZ Stadium and now Accor Stadium.

I would love to see then and now, what happened to the Olympics stadium! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Love the channel, but another "mistake" about Brazil was made. The actual olympic stadium (that hosted all of the track and field events, including the last Usain Bolt medal ever, and some football matches) in Rio2016 was the Estadio Olimpico João Havelange, at the time (now renamed Estádio Nilton Santos), Maracanã was the venue of the closing and opening ceremony, and held the Olympic Flame. You could put them both in the video.

It would've been nice to have a modern day overview of the earlier stadiums! Furthermore, still a great video!

Hosting the Olympics always repeats itself

Muito interessante seus vídeos 👏🏾

next is the stadiums for the Winter Olympics

Maracaná was not the Rio 2016 Olympic stadium. It was the Nilton Santos. Maracana hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, but not the Olympic stadium

Melbourne and Sydney 🔥

For Brisbane 2032 The Gabba is already there as a 44,000 seat round stadium official the Brisbane Cricket Ground. They want to knock it down and rebuild it from scratch. The Gabba name comes from the shortening of Woolloongabba which is the suburb it sits in next to the City.

The Rio Olympics were held in the Botafogo stadium. Only the opening ceremony and some football matches were hosted at the Maracana.

I can't wait for the Games to come to LA in 2028, I plan on taking time off to attend Opening Ceremonies. Still have 4 years though so I plan on enjoying watching them on TV

I've seen both the Coliseum in LA and the Stade Olympique in Montreal.