The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens Spiros Louis (, ''Olympiakó Athlitikó Kéntro Athinón "Spýros Loúis"'') or OACA (OAKA)), is a sport facilities complex located at

Marousi Marousi or Maroussi (), also known as Amarousio (), is a city and a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens#Athens Urban Area, Athens urban area, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the History of Athens, ancient Athenian Republic; its ...

, in the north section of the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

. The complex consists of five major venues as well as other supplementary sport facilities. The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens has hosted the Mediterranean Games in 1991, the World Championship in Athletics in 1997 as well as other important athletic and cultural events. The most significant event the Athens Olympic Sports Complex has hosted, was the Olympic Games. OACA was the main venue for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. The complex was revamped for the games under a design produced by the Spanish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...

Venues

Spyros Louis Athens Olympic Stadium

The stadium, built in 1982 and extensively refurbished for the games in 2004, including the addition of a roof, hosted the athletics events and the

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

final, as well as the

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

on August 13, 2004 and the Closing Ceremony on August 29, 2004.The venue also hosted the same events during the

2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September ...

Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall

The Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall (also known simply as the Indoor Hall) was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. It is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in the suburb of Maroussi. The

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

was used for

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

and

trampolining Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic Games, Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle posit ...

and also hosted the finals of the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

matches at the games. On May 18 and 20, 2006, the Olympic Indoor Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, that was held in Athens after Greece's victory at the Song Contest in 2005.

Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre

Athens Olympic Velodrome

Athens Olympic Tennis Centre

Athens Olympic Stadium.jpg,

Athens Olympic Stadium The Olympic Stadium of Athens "Spyridon Louis, Spyros Louis" (, ''Olympiakó Stádio Athinón "Spýros Loúis"'') is a sports stadium in Marousi, in the north section of Athens, Greece. With a total capacity of 75,000, it is the largest sports v ...

during maintenance Athens Aquatics Center.jpg, Olympic Aquatic Centre Olympic stadium,Athens 20.JPG, Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall Athens Indoor Olympic Aquatic Center.jpg,

Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre The Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre is a complex at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Marousi, Athens, Greece, consisting of two outdoor pools and one indoor pool, that was built for the 1991 Mediterranean Games. It was refurbished and expande ...

Athens Olympic Velodrome.jpg, Athens Olympic Velodrome POT-Tennis2.jpg, Athens Olympic Tennis Centre Main Court

Transportation to and from the venue

The Athens Olympic Sports Complex can be reached by Metro Neratziotissa" and "Irini" of Metro Line 1 (Green Line)], by suburban train (Proastiakos station "Neratziotissa"), or by direct bus lines [A7 (Stournari – Kifissia), 602 (N. Ionia – Kalogreza – Panormou Metro Station), 550 (P. Faliro – Kifissia).

Legacy

While it was reported in 2008 that almost all of the Olympic venues utilized for the 2004 games, including certain facilities in the Sports Complex such as the velodrome and tennis center, have fallen into varying states of dereliction or disrepair, all of the facilities in the Athens Olympic Sports Complex are still in use today. The table below illustrates how the Athens Olympic Sports Complex facilities are used today:

References

Sources

2004 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 2. pp. 201, 207, 227, 231, 242, 273, 303, 324, 329, 346, 409.

External links

*

* {{2004 Summer Olympic venues * Olympic Parks Santiago Calatrava structures Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics Sports venues completed in 1982 Olympic Buildings and structures in North Athens Sports complexes in Greece Marousi 1982 establishments in Greece