Stockholm Olympic Stadium (
Swedish: Stockholms Olympiastadion), most often called Stockholms stadion or (especially locally) simply Stadion, is a
stadium in
Stockholm,
Sweden. Designed by architect
Torben Grut, it was opened in 1912; its original use was as a venue for the
1912 Olympic Games. At the 1912 Games, it hosted
athletics, some
equestrian and
football matches,
gymnastics, the running part of the
modern pentathlon,
tug of war, and
wrestling events.[1] It has a capacity of 13,145–14,500 depending on usage and a capacity of nearly 33,000 for concerts.
Overview
The Stadium was the home ground for association football team
Djurgårdens IF for many decades, until the more modern
Tele2 Arena was inaugurated in 2013.
Djurgårdens IF still has offices in the Stadium building.
In 1956, when
Melbourne hosted the
Olympics, the
equestrian competitions were held here due to
quarantine rules in Australia.[2] In 1958 the stadium was the venue of the
European Athletics Championships.
Finland-Sweden athletics international has been held here 29 times. The annual
Stockholm Marathon finishes with a three quarter lap around the tracks of the stadium. Since 1967 the stadium has been the venue of the annual international athletics meeting
DN Galan, from 2011 part of
Diamond League. Originally, the north-east stand had two levels, increasing the capacity to about 20,000. After the Olympics, it was reduced to one level.
Some sections of the stadium were damaged by a bomb attack on 8 August 1997.
Mats Hinze, who was against Stockholm's bid for the
2004 Summer Olympics, was later found guilty.[3]
The stadium hosted motorcycle speedway, with the
Swedish Individual Speedway Championship being held from 1948 until 1971, when the speedway surface was replaced by an athletics track.[5] The team
Getingarna also rode league speedway from 1949 to 1953.[6]
It is one of the smallest athletics stadiums ever used in a
Summer Olympic Games.
Stockholm's stadium has seen more athletics world records broken than any other stadium in the world, with a total of 83 as of 2008.[8]
The record attendance, for football, is 21,995 and was set on 16 August 1946, when
Djurgårdens IF played
AIK. The record attendance, for bandy, is 28,848 and was set in 1959.
In 1995,
The Rolling Stones performed at the stadium in front of 35,200 people.
Kiss sold out the stadium, by selling all 32,500 tickets in less than 20 minutes, during their
2008 World Tour. Kiss also played 2 nights at this stadium during their 1996–97 reunion tour Alive/Worldwide.
Michael Jackson performed on stage twice on July 17–18, 1992, during
Dangerous World Tour. Each show had 53.000 viewers. In total 106.000 viewers.
Bruce Springsteen has performed at the stadium no less than eight times. Twice in 1988, once 1993, twice in 1999 and again in 2009 playing three sold-out shows to approximately 100.000 people.
AC/DC performed at the stadium on 3 June 2010 in front of 32,768 people
Gallery
Stockholms Olympiastadion as seen from the south at the opening of the
1912 Summer Olympics. For the Games, the capacity was 20.000.