Stadium of Tartu University (

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

: ''Tartu Ülikooli staadion)'' is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. It is owned and operated by the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

and has a capacity of 1,700.

History

Early history

The history of the stadium dates back to the 1920s, when a small sports field was opened at the site of the current stadium. Despite its modest size, the field hosted one the greatest long-distance runners of all time

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the 1920s. Nurmi set 22 official world r ...

in 1928, and the Estonian

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

championship in 1938. After the completion of a more modern and larger

Tamme Stadium Tamme Stadium ( et, Tamme staadion) is a multi-purpose stadium in Tartu, Estonia, located in the district of Tammelinn. First opened in 1932 and reaching its current look in 2011, the stadium is home to Tartu Tammeka and holds 1,638 people. His ...

in 1932, Tartu's sports life, along with the University of Tartu sports club, moved to

Tammelinn Tammelinn ( Estonian for ''"Oak Town"'') is a neighbourhood of Tartu, Estonia. It has a population of 8,153 (as of 31 December 2013) and an area of . Gallery Tammelinn, Tartu Tamme staadion.JPG Tammelinn, Tamme pst 15.JPG Tammelinn, Elva ...

. However, as time passed, Tamme Stadium was not able to satisfy the needs of the university's sports faculty and in 1953, Tartu gave the old sports field back to the university.

The 'Rise and demise' of the Stadium of Tartu University

In 1954, the construction of a new and modern stadium began. The project was designed by Arnold Matteus and the construction of the entire complex cost 3 million

rubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

. The opening took place in the autumn of 1957. Throughout the second part of 20th century, the Stadium of Tartu University hosted numerous top level athletics competitions and was again at the heart of Tartu's sports life, hosting the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

world record holder

Jan Železný Jan Železný (; born 16 June 1966) is a Czech former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World and Olympic champion and holds the world record with a throw of . Widely considered to be the greatest javelin thrower ...

and

Aki Parviainen Aki Uolevi Parviainen (born 26 October 1974) is a retired Finnish track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He won the gold medal at the 1999 World Championships and the silver medal at the 2001 World Championships. His best th ...

among others. On 6 August 1997, the stadium hosted Estonia's football match against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

. Despite it being the first time in history the national football team had played in Tartu, the athletics community voiced their resentment, stating that the stadium should remain to only be

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), competiti ...

based. The stadium was last renovated in 1999. After the reconstruction of

in 2011, the sports life once again moved away from the University Stadium. Today, the sports complex is in a poor condition and is only used for

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 events ...

trainings.

Estonia national team matches

The Stadium of Tartu University has hosted the

Estonia national football team The Estonia national football team ( et, Eesti jalgpallikoondis) represents Estonia in international football matches and is controlled by the Estonian Football Association, the governing body for football in Estonia. Estonia's home ground is ...

once, in 1997.

Gallery

File:UT Stadium1 2008-10-13.jpg File:UT Stadium 2008.JPG File:UT Stadium1 2009-10-13.jpg File:UT Stadium2 2009-10-13.jpg File:UT Stadium4 2009-10-13.jpg

References

External links

Gallery of the construction in 1957
{{Tartu landmarks Football venues in Estonia Sport in Tartu Multi-purpose stadiums in Estonia Buildings and structures in Tartu Athletics (track and field) venues in Estonia