16 Olympic Stadiums of the Last Six Decades

August

The Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the big centrepiece stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. Traditionally, the opening and closing ceremonies and the track and field competitions are held in the Olympic Stadium. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words Olympic Stadium as part of their name.

A number of stadiums have been used in more than one Olympics, in those cities that have held the Games twice. While only one (the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum) has been the main stadium twice, both the Panathinaiko Stadio and the Vélodrome de Vincennes have hosted events at subsequent Olympics. The London Games of 2012 was not be opened and closed at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, the site of the 1948 Olympic Stadium, but at a new stadium in Stratford.