The Athens Olympic Velodrome is a velodrome stadium that is located in

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 ...

Athens 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 ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, at the

Athens Olympic Sports Complex 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, in the north section of the city. The complex consists of fi ...

. The venue, which have the capacity for 5,250 people, but only 3,300 seats were used due to the security measures available for the

2004 Summer Olympic Games 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 ...

and 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 ...

. It has distinctive twin roofs, covering the stands on each side.

History

The Velodrome was originally between 1989 and 1991 as an outdoor venue to host the

1991 Mediterranean Games The XI Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1991 Mediterranean Games, were the 11th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Athens, Greece, from 28 June to 12 July 1991, where 2,762 athletes (2,176 men and 586 women) from 18 countries p ...

. However, the original planning for the 2004 Summer Olympics did not include any renovations to the velodrome or even a roof.But as soon after the Atlanta Games in 1996, the UCI found that the weather conditions interfered directly in the tests, it was decided that from Sydney 2000, the Olympic tests would have to be in covered velodromes and there was a need for a general reform in the place that lbe gave a more modern track and a controversial ceiling in order to host the

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...

events at the

2004 Athens 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 ...

and

events at the

. The project was designed 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 ...

who added a roof to harmonize with the Olympic Stadium and the projected swimming outdoor pools ceiling. The track, made of

Afzelia ''Afzelia'' is a genus of plants in family (biology), family Fabaceae. The thirteen species all are trees, native to tropical Africa or Asia. The genus name of ''Afzelia'' is in honour of Adam Afzelius (1750–1837), a Swedish botanist and an ap ...

wood, is long and wide. Reconstruction of the stadium was completed on May 30, 2004, and it was officially re-opened on July 30, 2004. In September 2023 the venue was shut down due to the findings of a study that showed that the roof was not meeting the safety requirements.

References

2004 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 2. p. 303.
OAKA.com profile.

External links

information
at ''FixedGearFever.com'' Sports venues completed in 1991 Venues of the 2004 Summer Olympics

Velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

Sports venues in Greece Velodromes Cycle racing in Greece Olympic cycling venues 1991 establishments in Greece {{Summer-Olympic-venue-stub

History

See also

References

External links