Eläintarha Stadium () is a

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

at the Eläintarha park in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It was opened in 1910 as the first stadium in Helsinki. Today it is mostly used by track and field athletes.

History

Eläintarha Stadium served as the main sports venue of Helsinki until 1938, as the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...

was completed. In 1911 Eläintarha hosted the first international of the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team (, ) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team ...

and in 1925 the first annual Finland-Sweden Athletics International. It was fully renovated in 2005 and 2012 as the stadium was used as a warm-up area for the Athletics World and European Championships.

World Records

The following World Records were set at the Eläintarha Stadium. On 19 June 1924

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...

first broke the 1,500 meters world record and 45 minutes later he set a new record in the 5,000 meter run.PAAVO NURMI AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
The Sports Museum of Finland. Retrieved 11 jUNE 2015. ;1,500 meters *3:52.6 –

, 19 June 1924 ;5 000 meters *14:28.2 –

, 19 June 1924 *14:17.0 – Lauri Lehtinen, 19 June 1932 ;10 000 meters *30:35.4 –

Ville Ritola Vilho "Ville" Eino Ritola (18 January 1896 – 24 April 1982) was a Finnish long-distance runner. Known as one of the " Flying Finns", he won five Olympic gold medals and three Olympic silver medals in the 1920s. He holds the record of winning ...

, 25 May 1924 ;110 metres hurdles *14.4 – Bengt Sjöstedt, 5 September 1931 ;Javelin throw *76.10 – Matti Järvinen, 15 June 1933 ;Decathlon *7,485.61 – Aleksander Klumberg, 22 September 1922 *7,995.19 –

Paavo Yrjölä Paavo Ilmari Yrjölä (18 June 1902 in Hämeenkyrö – 11 February 1980 in Vilppula), also known as the ''Bear of Hämeenkyrö'' (''Hämeenkyrön karhu''), was a Finnish track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the 19 ...

, 17 July 1927

References

Sports venues in Helsinki Multi-purpose stadiums in Finland {{Finland-sports-venue-stub