The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens Spiros Louis ( el, Ολυμπιακό Αθλητικό Κέντρο Αθηνών "Σπύρος Λούης", ''Olympiakó Athlitikó Kéntro Athinón "Spýros Loúis"'') or OACA ()), is a sport facilities complex located at

Marousi Marousi or Maroussi ( el, Μαρούσι, also Αμαρούσιο ''Amarousio'') is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the History of Athens, ancient Athenian Republic; its ancie ...

, northeast Athens, Greece. 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 Santiago Calatrava.

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 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

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 ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. It is part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in the suburb of Maroussi. The arena was used for artistic gymnastics and trampolining and also hosted the finals of the basketball 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

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

*
Official site
{{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