Icahn Stadium is a 5,000 seat

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

and multipurpose facility located on Randalls Island in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Designed within the former site of Downing Stadium, it opened on April 23, 2005. Icahn Stadium is named after American businessman Carl Icahn, who made a $10 million donation towards the construction of the new stadium. The stadium features a

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

Class 1 certified running track with a 400-meter Mondo Super X Performance surface, and it has been the site of many international, national, and regional track and field events.

Background

Icahn Stadium was built to replace Downing Stadium, which was originally opened in 1936 as part of a larger New York City Parks project that included the construction of the Triborough Bridge. The opening of Downing Stadium made history as the facility hosted the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1936, at which

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lif ...

qualified for two events in the upcoming Berlin Olympics. Downing Stadium also made history in 1939 as the site of the first televised college football game, Fordham vs. Waynesburg. The site was subsequently home to the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

soccer team, as well as various sporting events and summer concerts. The stadium lights, which had been taken from

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pr ...

after it was torn down, were left in place to light the new field. After years of use, the old facility was in need of renovation. In order to maximize the potential of the site, the old stadium was razed, and Icahn Stadium was constructed in its place along with Field 10, a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

-certified

soccer field A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural t ...

, on the north side. The track and field built is one of only five

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

Class 1-certified tracks in the United States (along with Hutsell-Rosen Track,

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...

John McDonnell Field John McDonnell Field is the outdoor track facility at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and is home to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The field is named after former head coach John McDonnell, who ended his thirty-six-year collegiate ...

and Rock Chalk Park ). The 5,000 seat stadium is partially sheltered by a cantilevered roof, and is illuminated by a pair of lighting towers. In addition, the soccer field on the north of the stadium is outfitted with a scoreboard, fencing, lighting, and bleachers for spectator events. Run by the Randalls Island Park Alliance (RIPA), Icahn Stadium serves the residents of New York City and beyond. It houses some of RIPA’s various Randalls Island Kids (RIK) programs, including the Jesse Owens track club, RIK Dance programs, and components of RIK summer camp. RIPA was founded in 1992 as a public–private partnership to work on behalf of Randalls Island Park. The Alliance, in conjunction with City leadership and the local community, works to realize the Island’s unique potential by developing sports and recreational facilities, restoring its vast natural environment, reclaiming and maintaining parkland, and sponsoring community-linked programs for the children of New York City. RIPA runs free youth sports programs that bring over 14,000 under-resourced public school children from

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Mott Haven, Melrose, and Port Morris. In the early 1900s, the South Bronx was orig ...

to the island annually.

Track and field

Since its opening, Icahn Stadium has hosted more than 200,000 high school, college and professional athletes and spectators during the track season. Each year, the number of meets and events that are scheduled has grown, bringing larger numbers of people to the facility. In 2005 the

Reebok Grand Prix The USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, United States. First started in 2005 as the Reebok Grand Prix and then Adidas Grand Prix, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix even ...

was created and held at the stadium. Currently known as the Adidas Grand Prix of the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

, the annual summer tournament welcomes top runners from around the world. From its inception it has distinguished itself as one of top meets to feature Olympic and World Champions. *On May 31, 2008, Jamaican sprinter

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-ti ...

set the then world record in the 100m on the Icahn Stadium track with a time of 9.72 seconds at the

, .02 seconds faster than the previous record held by his countryman,

Asafa Powell Asafa Powell, CD (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consisten ...

. *On June 9, 2012, Kenyan runner David Rudisha set the record in the

800m The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

in the U.S. with a time of 1:41.74 seconds at the Adidas Grand Prix.

Lacrosse

In December 2012, the New York Lizards of

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...

announced that the team would play two home games at Icahn Stadium for the 2013 season. The team played at the venue on June 6 and 13, 2013.

Soccer

On June 27, 2013, the New York Cosmos revealed that their annual Cosmos Copa NYC soccer tournament would hold its final at the stadium, as many of the games were held at Randalls Island. Due to scheduling issues, the final was relocated. However, the site was used as a venue for the 2014 Cosmos Copa group stages.

NYC Olympics

Icahn Stadium was incorporated as a training center into the New York City bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Future New York City Olympic bids will also potentially use the stadium as a training facility, because it already meets IAAF specifications.

References

External links

Icahn Stadium
{{Diamond League venues New York Cosmos Athletics (track and field) venues in New York City Lacrosse venues in New York City Soccer venues in New York City College lacrosse venues in the United States College soccer venues in the United States Multi-purpose stadiums in the United States Sports venues in Manhattan Sports venues completed in 2005 Tourist attractions in Manhattan 2005 establishments in New York City Diamond League venues