Helsinki Olympic Stadium

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.

Helsinki Olympic Stadium

Helsingin olympiastadion Helsingfors Olympiastadion
"Stadikka"
Location	Helsinki, Finland
Coordinates	60°11′13″N 024°55′38″E
Owner	Stadion-säätiö
Capacity	36,000 70,000 (as olympic mode)
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	12 February 1934
Opened	12 June 1938
Renovated	1939, 1947–1952, 1953–1956, 1961, 1971, 1991–1994, 1997–1998, 2004–2005, 2010–2011, 2016–2020
Architect	Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti
Tenants
Finland national football team

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.[1]

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 Toivo Jäntti. 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.

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, is open for visitors and offers impressive views over Helsinki. It is possible to see into the adjacent Telia 5G -areena.

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.[2] 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.[1][3]

Events

Sport events

• 1952 Summer Olympics
• 1957 Bandy World Championship
• 1971 European Athletics Championships
• 1983 World Championships in Athletics
• 1994 European Athletics Championships
• 2005 World Championships in Athletics
• UEFA Women's Euro 2009 (4 Group matches and a Final)
• 2012 European Athletics Championships
• 2022 UEFA Super Cup (planned)[4]

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	Lemonator 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	Mestarit	–	–
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	MoonMadness	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 Blake	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. "Olympiastadionin korjauksen hintalappu kallistumassa jälleen – vuosia remonttivasaran alla olleen stadioinin määrä avautua elokuussa". mtvuutiset.fi. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
2. Modernisation and renewal of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium Archived 24 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 20 December 2014
3. StadiumDB.com: Helsinki: Olympiastadion is great but the price isn’t, 23.01.2021
4. "UEFA". Twitter. Retrieved 27 March 2020. 🗓 BREAKING: The 2022 UEFA #SuperCup final will be held in Helsinki, Finland, at the Olympic Stadium.⁣

External links

Media related to Helsingin olympiastadion at Wikimedia Commons

• 1952 Summer Olympics official report. pp. 44–7.
• Stadion.fi – Official site
• History of the stadium
• Panoramic virtual tour from the stadium tower