Atanasio Girardot Sports Complex (officially ''Unidad Deportiva Atanasio Girardot'') is a

sports complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...

located in

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, Colombia. The complex includes Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín Sports Coliseum, Luis Alberto Villegas Stadium, and Alfonso Galvis Duque Stadium.

Atanasio Girardot Stadium

Estadio Atanasio Girardot (Atanasio Girardot Stadium) is currently used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

matches by two teams,

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional association football, football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the countr ...

and

Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...

, two of the most successful and popular football clubs from Colombia. The stadium was built in 1953 and was renovated for the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FIFA ...

to its current capacity of 40,943. It is also the third largest stadium in the country behind

Estadio Deportivo Cali Estadio Deportivo Cali, also called Estadio de Palmaseca, is a association football, football stadium located in Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Palmira, Colombia. The stadium opened in 2010, and is the home of Deportivo Cali. Its original capacity was ...

and

Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, commonly known as Estadio Metropolitano, or colloquially, El Metro, is a multi-use all-seater football stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia. It is the home stadium of local football team Atlético Junior. It ...

. The stadium was named after

Atanasio Girardot Manuel Atanasio Girardot Díaz (2 May 1791 – 30 September 1813) was a Colombian revolutionary leader. Son of Louis Girardot, wealthy merchant and French miner, Girardot fought with Simón Bolívar in the '' Campaña Admirable'' and other bat ...

, a Colombian revolutionary leader who fought alongside

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

Concerts

Medellín Sports Coliseum

Medellin Sports Coliseum is a complex of five sports arenas: the

Guillermo Gaviria Correa Guillermo Gaviria Correa (November 27, 1962, Medellín – May 5, 2003) was the state governor of Antioquia, a province of over 6 million people in northwestern Colombia. Kidnapped by FARC guerrillas during a march against violence on April 21, ...

Coliseum for Martial Arts, the Jorge Valderrama Coliseum for Handball, the Jorge Hugo Giraldo Coliseum for Gymnastics, the Iván de Beodut Coliseum for Basketball, and the Yesid Santos Coliseum for Volleyball. The five

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasiums were designed by

Giancarlo Mazzanti Giancarlo Mazzanti (born 1963) is a Colombian architect based in Bogota. Mazzanti was born in Barranquilla, Colombia in 1963. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in architecture from the Pontifical Xaverian University in Bogotá (Pontificia U ...

and Plan B Architects. Three coliseums were renovated and two new coliseums were constructed in 18 months and with CO$50 million in preparation for the

2010 South American Games The IX South American Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Sudamericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos'') was a multi-sport event held between 19 and 30 March 2010 in Medellín, Colombia. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organi ...

. The coliseum was built with wavy, sloped green roofs, and has an area of 493,000 square feet.

Sporting events held

The stadium has hosted many sporting events: *

2001 Copa América The 2001 Copa América was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Colombia won the tournament for the 1st time without conceding a goal. Brazil national football team, Brazil ...

FIFA U-20 World Cup: Destination - FIFA.com
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Transport

The complex has its own station on line B of the

Medellín Metro The Medellín Metro (Spanish: ''Metro de Medellín'') is a rapid transit system that crosses the Metropolitan Area of Medellín from North to South and from Centre to West. It first opened for service on 30 November 1995. As one of the first impl ...

, which is named '' Estadio''.

References

{{Categoría Primera A venues Atlético Nacional Independiente Medellín Sports venues completed in 1953