The Olympic Stadium ( pl, Stadion Olimpijski) 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 ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; , . german: Breslau, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...

, Poland. It is the home stadium of speedway team Sparta Wrocław and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

team

Panthers Wrocław The Panthers Wroclaw are an American football team in Wrocław, Poland, which was merged from Giants Wrocław and Devils Wrocław (both founded in 2005). They currently play in the newly formed European League of Football since 2021. In the pas ...

. The stadium has a capacity now of 11,000 people and was supposed to be one of the main pitches on

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

. The newly constructed Stadion Miejski was used for that event instead.

History

The stadium was built from 1926 to 1928 as ''Schlesierkampfbahn'' (''Silesian Arena'') according to a design by Richard Konwiarz. It was part of a larger sports complex in the city district of Zalesie (then ''Leerbeutel''), again extended from 1935 to 1939 and renamed '' Hermann–Göring–Stadion'' under the

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

authorities. On 16 May 1937, it was the site of the legendary

Breslau Eleven The Breslau Eleven (german: Breslau-Elf) was the name given to the Germany national football team who defeated Denmark 8–0 at Hermann-Göring-Sportfeld in Breslau, Nazi Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) on 16 May 1937. Coached by Sepp Herber ...

football match, when the

Germany national football team The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football ...

defeated

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

8–0. Despite its current Polish name, the arena has never been an Olympic Games site (in particular, for the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi- ...

); however the builder Richard Konwiarz achieved a bronze medal in the

art competitions at the 1932 Summer Olympics Art competitions were held as part of the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. Medals were awarded in five categories (architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture), for works inspired by sport-related themes. Art com ...

in Los Angeles for his architectural design. Heavily devastated during the

Siege of Breslau The siege of Breslau, also known as the Battle of Breslau, was a three-month-long siege of the city of Breslau in Lower Silesia, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland), lasting to the end of World War II in Europe. From 13 February 1945 to 6 May 194 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the stadium was rebuilt by the Polish municipal administration and named after General

Karol Świerczewski Karol Wacław Świerczewski (; callsign ''Walter''; 10 February 1897 – 28 March 1947) was a Polish and Soviet Red Army general and statesman. He was a Bolshevik Party member during the Russian Civil War and a Soviet officer in the wars fough ...

. From the 1970s it was used by the Wrocław University School of Physical Education and comprehensively modernized with floodlights and an undersoil heating. The Wrocław city administration assumed ownership in 2006 and had the speedway racing track rebuilt, whereafter the smaller football pitch no longer meets the requirements of

UEFA stadium categories UEFA stadium categories are categories for football stadiums laid out in UEFA's Stadium Infrastructure Regulations. Using these regulations, stadiums are rated as category one, two, three, or four (renamed from elite) in ascending ranking order. ...

. The speedway track is in length. Stadion Olimpijski03

Past events

The stadium has hosted the

Speedway Grand Prix of Poland The Speedway Grand Prix of Poland is a speedway event that is a part of the Speedway Grand Prix Series. Winners Most wins Tomasz Gollob 8 times Bartosz Zmarzlik 8 times References {{DEFAULTSORT:Speedway Grand Prix Of Poland Grand ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. It also was a venue of the

Speedway Grand Prix of Europe The Speedway Grand Prix of Europe was a speedway event that was a part of the Speedway Grand Prix Series. Winners Most wins Jason Crump and Nicki Pedersen 3 times References See also * List of Speedway Grand Prix riders Grand ...

in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007. The stadium has hosted american football competition and motorcycle speedway competition at

2017 World Games The 2017 World Games ( pl, Igrzyska Światowe 2017), commonly known as Wrocław 2017 (german: Breslau 2017; sli, Brassel 2017), was the tenth World Games, a major international multi-sport event, meant for sports, or disciplines or events withi ...

Speedway World Finals

Individual World Championship

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

–

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Championships by Tony Rickardsson o ...

– 15pts *

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

–

Gary Havelock Robert Gary Havelock (born 4 November 1968, in Eaglescliffe, County Durham, England) is a former speedway rider who was World Champion in 1992. For several years he captained the Redcar Bears in the Premier League. He is the son of former spe ...

– 14pts

World Pairs Championship

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

– Sweden (

Anders Michanek Anders Michanek (born 30 May 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Speedway rider. In 1974 he won the Speedway World Championship in his Swedish homeland with a maximum score of 15 points. Career Michanek had a very successful career riding in the ...

Tommy Jansson Per Tommy Jansson (2 October 1952 – 20 May 1976) was a motorcycle speedway rider. He was one of Sweden's most exciting speedway prospects in the 1970s but was killed in the Swedish Final a World Championship Qualifying Round meeting. He was th ...

) – 24pts

World Team Cup

* 1961 –

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

(

Marian Kaiser Marian Kaiser (1933–1991) was an international speedway rider from Poland. Speedway career Kaiser reached the final of the Speedway World Championship on two occasions, in the 1960 Individual Speedway World Championship and the 1966 Indivi ...

Henryk Żyto Henryk Żyto (1936-2018) was an international speedway rider from Poland. Speedway career Żyto reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in the 1960 Individual Speedway World Championship. He was the Polish champion in 1963 after ...

Florian Kapała Florian Kapała (1929 - 2007) was an international speedway rider from Poland. Speedway career Kapała reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in the 1961 Individual Speedway World Championship. He was a four times Polish champ ...

Mieczysław Połukard Mieczysław Połukard (1930 in Warsaw, Poland – 26 October 1985 in Bydgoszcz, Poland) was a Polish motorcycle speedway rider and coach, the first Polish rider to ride in the Individual World Championship Final in 1959 and won the World Team ...

/ Stanislaw Tkocz) – 32pts * 1966 –

( Andrzej Pogorzelski /

Marian Rose Marian Rose (1933-1970) was an international Motorcycle speedway, speedway rider from Poland. Speedway career Rose won a gold medal in the Speedway World Team Cup in the 1966 Speedway World Team Cup. He was killed in a race at the Stal Rzeszów ...

/ Antoni Woryna /

Andrzej Wyglenda Andrzej Wyglenda (born 4 May 1941 in sports, 1941 in Rybnik, Poland) is a former Polish motorcycle speedway rider who has won 1971 Speedway World Pairs Championship and Speedway World Team Cup three times. He was won Polish Individual Speedway Ch ...

) – 41pts * 1971 –

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

( Ray Wilson /

Jim Airey James Sydney Airey (born 19 August 1941 in Earlwood, New South Wales) is a former Australian international motorcycle speedway rider who rode in the 1971 Individual Speedway World Championship, 1971 World Final in Göteborg, Sweden and was a m ...

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times – in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedw ...

Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a car ...

)* – 37pts * 1977 –

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

( Peter Collins / Michael Lee /

Dave Jessup David John Jessup (born 7 March 1953 in Ipswich, England) is a former speedway rider who finished runner-up the Speedway World Championship in 1980 to fellow countryman Michael Lee.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Spe ...

/ John Davis /

Malcolm Simmons Malcolm Simmons (20 March 1946 – 25 May 2014) was a British speedway rider. Career Simmons was born in Tonbridge, Kent. After starting in second-half races at New Cross, he made his Provincial League debut at Hackney Hawks in 1963 aged seve ...

) – 37pts * 1980 –

( Michael Lee /

Chris Morton Christopher John Morton, MBE (born 22 July 1956) is a former motorcycle speedway rider. He rode bikes from a young age at the farm of Peter Collins' parents. Brief career summary Born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, Morton made his debut for Ellesm ...

/ Peter Collins /

/ John Davis) – 40pts ''* The

Great Britain Speedway Team The Great Britain Speedway Team (also known as GB Speedway Team) is one of the major teams in international speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by the 2018 Speedway World Champ ...

contained riders from the

Commonwealth nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

until the early 1970s. Mauger, Briggs and Moore were from New Zealand, Airey from Australia and Wilson from England.''

Speedway World Cup

* 2001 – Australia (

Jason Crump Jason Philip Crump (born 6 August 1975) is an Australian international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, a World Cup winner and a former World Under-21 Champion. In a 21-year career in Speedway, Jason C ...

Leigh Adams Leigh Scott Adams (born 28 April 1971 in Mildura, Victoria)Oakes, P.(2004). ''British Speedway Who's Who''. is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. He is a multiple Speedway Grand Prix winner and World Team Champion. He als ...

Ryan Sullivan Ryan Geoffrey Sullivan (born 20 January 1975, in Fitzroy, Victoria) is a retired Australian international Motorcycle speedway rider who has won the Australian senior, Under-21, and Under-16 championships during his career. Sullivan achiev ...

Todd Wiltshire Todd Wiltshire (born 26 September 1968 in Bankstown, New South Wales) is a retired Australian motorcycle speedway rider who competed at the highest level of the sport, finishing a career best third in the 1990 Individual Speedway World Champi ...

Craig Boyce Craig Boyce (born 2 August 1967 in Sydney, Australia) was a motorcycle speedway rider who primarily rode for the Poole Pirates in the British Elite League. After retiring from riding, Boyce became manager of the Australian national team unti ...

) – 68pts * 2005 –

(

Tomasz Gollob Tomasz Robert Gollob (; born 11 April 1971 in Bydgoszcz, Poland) is a former Polish motorcycle speedway rider. He appeared in every Speedway Grand Prix series between its inaugural season in 1995 and 2013. His brother Jacek is also a speedway ri ...

Piotr Protasiewicz Piotr Protasiewicz (born 25 January 1975 in Zielona Góra, Poland) is a Polish international speedway rider. Career He has ridden for the Polish national team in the Speedway World Cup in 1996 and 2005. He was also World U-21 Champion in 199 ...

Jarosław Hampel Jarosław "Jarek" Hampel (; born 17 April 1982 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish Speedway rider. He was a participant of the FIM Speedway Grand Prix in 2007 and 2010. He received his speedway license in 1998 with the Polish team Polonia Piła, alt ...

Rune Holta Rune Holta (born 29 August 1973 in Stavanger, Norway) is a speedway rider. He grew up in Randaberg Norway, but has been a Polish citizen since 2002, allowing him to represent Poland in international competitions and was a member of their Speedwa ...

Grzegorz Walasek Grzegorz Walasek (born 29 August 1976) is a Polish motorcycle speedway rider who has ridden for the Polish national team and has also competed in the Speedway Grand Prix series. Career Born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland, Walasek began his senio ...

) – 62pts

Speedway Grand Prix

1995 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland The 1995 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland was the first race of the 1995 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 20 May in the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław, Poland.

– –

* 1996 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland – –

Tommy Knudsen Tommy Knudsen (born 9 November 1961 in Roager, Denmark) is a former Motorcycle speedway rider who won eight Speedway World Team Cups, and two World Pairs. Career Knudsen first became known when he won the Danish Under-16 ...

* 1997 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland – –

Greg Hancock Gregory Alan Hancock (born June 3, 1970 in Whittier, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider. As of 2023, he was one of only six riders to have won the individual World Championship four or more times. In addit ...

* 1999 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland – –

* 2004

– –

Bjarne Pedersen Bjarne Aagaard Pedersen (born 12 July 1978 in Holstebro, Denmark)Oakes, P.(2006). ''Speedway Star Almanac''. is an international motorcycle speedway rider who has represented Denmark in the Speedway World Cup, winning it on two occasions: in ...

* 2005

– –

Tony Rickardsson Tony Rickardsson (born on 17 August 1970) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1989 to 2006. Rickardsson is notable for winning six Speedway World Championship titles in 1 ...

* 2006

– –

* 2007 Speedway Grand Prix of Europe – –

Nicki Pedersen Nicki Pedersen (born 2 April 1977) is a Danish motorcycle speedway rider. He has won the World Championship in 2003, 2007 and 2008 and was a World Cup winner with Denmark in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014. His brother, R ...

National football team matches

References

{{Motorcycle speedway tracks Speedway venues in Poland American football venues in Poland Buildings and structures in Wrocław Sport in Wrocław Multi-purpose stadiums in Poland Sports venues in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Art Deco architecture in Poland 1928 establishments in Germany Sports venues completed in 1928 European League of Football venues