The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track, and association football stadium in

Colombes Colombes () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 53rd largest city in France. ...

, near

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

History

Named in memory of French rugby player Yves du Manoir in 1928, it was the main stadium for the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

and had a capacity of 45,000 at the time. During the 1924 games, it hosted the

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, some of the

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

, some of the

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, some of the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

, and two of the

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Summer Olympics, Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, Laser pistol (sport), laser pistol shooting, and ...

events (running, fencing). It was later expanded to a capacity of over 60,000. Colombes was also the venue for the 1938 World Cup Final between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and also hosted the

home team In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a sports team. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as s ...

's two matches in the tournament. Colombes hosted several French Cup finals and home games of the national football and national rugby union teams into the 1970s. It remained the nation's largest capacity stadium until the renovated

Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...

was inaugurated in 1972. Due to increasingly stringent safety regulations, the Colombes' capacity had dropped to under 50,000. The last games of the national rugby union and

teams at Colombes were respectively in 1972 and 1975. StadeolympiqueColombesJO1924

France's professional football team

RC Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of the oldest clubs in Fr ...

used Colombes as their home ground until about 1985, then moved on to other stadia before returning in the 2010s. Unlike RC Paris,

Racing 92 Racing 92 () is a French professional rugby union club based in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Paris' western inner Banlieue, suburbs that competes in Top 14. The club plays its home matches at the 30,681-capacity Stadium#Types, domed stadium Pa ...

rugby did not leave Colombes until November 2017. They originally planned to redevelop Yves-du-Manoir into a stadium to be shared with

Racing Club de France Football Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of the oldest clubs in Fr ...

. Instead, they built

Paris La Défense Arena Paris La Défense Arena is a multipurpose Arena, indoor arena in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris. Opened in October 2017, it was developed by the rugby union club Racing 92, and replaced Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir as their home. It is Li ...

in nearby

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

, playing their first match in the new venue in December 2017. It remains to be seen whether the Racing Club de France football club will move as well. It was closed and redeveloped between 2022–24 and served as the

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

venue for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

1938 FIFA World Cup

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir hosted three games of the 1938 FIFA World Cup, including the final.

2024 Summer Olympics

The site has been completely renovated between 2021 and 2023. Designed by the architectural firm Celnikier et Grabli Architectes and rebuilt by the construction group Léon Grosse, the work was completed in December 2023. The new complex will house the French Field Hockey Federation and its national training center, which will have the two floodlit synthetic pitches from the Olympic tournament, one of which has a 1,000-seat stand around a building constructed with administrative premises, meeting rooms and changing rooms. The complex also includes seven new football and rugby union pitches. The legendary main pitch sees its famous Olympic athletics track surrounding it removed in favor of a small 200 m ring (only suitable for warming up) located a few hundred metres away. The track therefore now excludes any possibility of athletics competition, being now reserved for schools and associations. However, its historic grandstand has been upgraded with new seats. It can now accommodate 6,000 spectators. The historic stadium has approximately 9,500 seats with the temporary grandstands installed for the 2024 Olympic Games. The natural grass pitch is being replaced by a brand new blue synthetic pitch. The entire sports complex can accommodate around 13,500 spectators during the 2024 Summer Olympics. The total cost of the project is 101 million euros; this budget was financed by the

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

department and the Olympic Works Delivery Company (Solidéo). In addition to the installation of the French Field Hockey Federation and its national training centre, it is planned that the field hockey section of

Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French multi-sport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located at the Bois ...

and the football section,

, will eventually become the resident clubs of the stadium and that

may play a few rugby union matches and train there.

In popular culture

The Olympic races involving

Harold Abrahams Harold Maurice Abrahams (15 December 1899 – 14 January 1978) was an English track and field athlete. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. Early life and educati ...

and

Eric Liddell Eric Henry Liddell (; 16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945) was a Scottish sprint (running), sprinter, Rugby union, rugby player and Christian missionary. Born in Qing dynasty, Tianjin, China to Scottish missionary parents, he attended bo ...

, which are portrayed in the film ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 historical drama, historical Sports film, sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Summer ...

'', were run here, although the Colombes stadium was not used for the film."The Real Chariots of Fire", (TV Movie) Silver River Productions (2012) The stand-in stadium for filming was the Oval Sports Centre, Bebington, Merseyside, near Liverpool, England. The stadium was portrayed in the 1981 film ''

Escape to Victory ''Escape to Victory'' (or simply ''Victory'') is a 1981 sports war film directed by John Huston and starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé. The film is about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German ...

'' starring

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

and

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

, but the stand-stadium used in the filming was the Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion (1947) in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

References

External links

Colombes Stadium Yves-du-Manoir in postal card
(in French)

(in French)

''

'' stadium reprieved ——— {{DEFAULTSORT:Yves-du-Manoir, Stade Venues of the 1924 Summer Olympics Venues of the 2024 Summer Olympics

Olympic athletics venues Olympic equestrian venues Olympic fencing venues Olympic gymnastics venues Olympic modern pentathlon venues Olympic tennis venues Olympic field hockey venues Athletics (track and field) venues in France Sports venues in Hauts-de-Seine Sports venues in Paris Football venues in France Racing Club de France Football Rugby union stadiums in France Racing Club de France Racing 92 Olympic cycling venues Olympic rugby union venues Multi-purpose stadiums in France Field hockey venues in France Sports venues completed in 1907 1907 establishments in France