Winter Olympic Stadia

[Brekkie Boy 70]

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere - I must admit I'd forgot I was a member here until the Torino Games came around!

I've been trying to find out information about stadia used for the Winter Olympic Opening/Closing Ceremonies - but apart from the odd reference, it's difficult to find a definitive list.

The practice now is generally for a sports stadium in the host city to be used for the ceremonies, though it's not used for any events.

Torino and Salt Lake City both did a pretty good job of giving their stadia the appropriate winter feel, but I always felt Nagano's stadium looked unfinished.

I know Lillehammer used their Ski-Jumping stadia-  anyone have any idea how many people these held?

I think Albertville ceremony was also on the slopes - possibly at a skiing stadia, though I'm not sure?

Can anyone help build a list of stadia used for the Opening/Closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, with an idea of their capacity, and also if they were used for other sports, what sports they were used for?

Thanks,

Brekkie Boy.

[hektor 87]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Stadium

I would suggest that we put information there.Wikipedia article

[thatsnotmypuppy 558]

02 - Salt Lake City - Rice Eccles Stadium

Not used for any other purpose.

98 - Nagano - Minami Sports Park Stadium

Not used for any other purpose.

94 - Lillehammer - Lysgårdsbakkene Stadion

Ski Jumping stadium.

92 - Albertville - temp stadium next to the speed skating oval.

Temporary - dismantled after the Games.

88 - Calgary - McMahon Stadium

Not used for any other purpose.

84 - Sarajevo - Kosevo Stadium - Closing in the Zetra Ice Hall.

Kosevo - Not used for any other purpose. Zetra - Figure Skating.

80 - Lake Placid - LP Equestrian Stadium (I'm not sure of the exact name but it was temporary seating around a field near the highy school that was an equestrian park - closing was at the Olympic Arena)  Closing was at the Indoor Rink of the Olympic Centre.

Equestrian Stadium - Not used for any other purpose.

Indoor Rink - Figure Skating/ Ice Hockey

76 - Innsbruck - Olympic Ski Jump (Bergisel Stadium)

Ski jumping stadium.

72 - Sapporo - Makomanai Park Stadium

Speed Skating venue.

68 - Grenoble - Opening Stadium (temporary seating at existing football ground)

Not used for any other purpose.

64 - Innsbruck Olympic Ski Jump (Bergisel Stadium)

Ski Jumping stadium

60 - Squaw Valley - Blyth Arena and surrounds

Ice Hockey / Figure Skating venue.

56 - Cortina - Ice Stadium

Speed Skating venue

52 - Oslo - Bislett Stadium

Speed skating venue

48 - St Moritz - Olympic Ice Rink

Speed skating oval

36 - Garmisch Partenkirchen - Olympia Skistadion

Ski jumping venue.

32 - Lake Placid - Olympic Stadium (Speed Skating oval)

Speed Skating venue

28 - St Moritz - Olympic Ice Rink

Multi use skating venue (Figure, speed etc)

24 - Chamonix - Stade Olympique de Chamonix

Multi use skating venue

[Brekkie Boy 70]

Thanks for that.

It's obvious with some, but can anyone expand on the details of some of these stadia and explain what they were used for, if anything, during the games.

For example, in the past has the Long Track Speed Skating been held outside?

And while we're at it - a question that's been bugging me throughout these games.  How exactly do you make an ice rink - surely it's not as simple as flooding an arena with water and freezing it!

[thatsnotmypuppy 558]

I have expanded my above post.  

Speed skating indoors really only started in Calgary.  Albertville was the last outdoor speed skating tournament in 1992.  Lillehammer, Nagano, SLC and Torino have all also been inside - Vancouver is planned indoors and all 2014 bidders appear to be planning covered ovals.

As for rinks -

The underlying technology behind indoor ice rinks is the same technology at work in refrigerators and air conditioners.

The main difference in an ice rink, other than sheer size, is that the refrigerant doesn't cool the ice directly. Instead, it cools brinewater, a calcium-chloride solution, which is pumped through an intricate system of pipes underneath the ice. In most rinks, the pipes are embedded in a concrete or sand base (more on this later).

Underneath the floor at most ice arenas, you'll find a refrigeration system. This system consists of three main pieces:

Chillers (most arenas have two or three)

Steel pipes with 2,800 pipe welds

Brinewater (an antifreeze agent)

Five miles (8 km) of steel pipe wind under the rink in the most arenas. The three chillers cool the brinewater to 16 F (-9 C) and provide up to 270 tons of cooling. The brinewater's chemical makeup keeps it from freezing.

The maintenance team sets the refrigeration system's temperature manually, based on indoor and outdoor temperatures. To freeze the rink surface, the system pumps 9,000 gallons (34,000 L) of freezing brinewater through the pipes and then onto the ice-bearing concrete slab.

The brinewater is pumped into the pipes embedded in the ice-bearing concrete slab. The ice-bearing slab sits between the skating surface and a layer of insulation, which allows the ice to expand and shrink as temperatures and time demand. The brinewater helps keep the ice-bearing slab's temperature just below 32 F so that the water spread onto it can freeze.

Underneath the layer of insulation, a heated concrete layer  keeps the ground below the ice from freezing, expanding and cracking the rink structure. The entire rink sits on a base layer of gravel and sand which has a groundwater drain at the bottom.

To defrost the skating surface, the brinewater is heated and pumped through the ice-bearing concrete slab. This heats the under layer of the ice, making it easier to break up and remove with front-end loaders.

Most arenas however do not melt the ice unless refrigeration is being repaired or they need to paint different logos.  For different events a wooden floor is added - buffered by insulation.  This means at a lot of concerts in 'ice' arenas, floor seats tend to be a bit chilly.

So there you go!  All the ice rink stuff is from the 'How To' site.

[Guardian 22]

Uh, TNMP, wasn't the 1972 Olympic Stadium in Sapporo used for long track speed skating, along with the ceremonies?

[Brekkie Boy 70]

Thanks for all the info - very interesting.

So it looks like alot of the time the outdoor speed skating arena acted in very much the same way as a Summer Olympic Stadium.

Is that why they are 400m tracks then, and were any athletic stadiums converted for the games?

I understand Vancouver is set to host the ceremony indoors - surely that'll cause some problems for lighting the flame, never mind the fireworks!

[Citius Altius Fortius 560]

36 - Garmisch Partenkirchen - Olympia Skistadion

Not 100% sure - I think the end of the cross country was staged at this venue.

The Skistadion of Garmisch-Partenkirchen is part of the Ski-Jump

[baron-pierreIV 1691]

OK.  How many WC's/toilets/urinals were provided for men and women at all these stadia?  

- Were these like close to the performers' dressing rooms or far enough?  

Did the septic tanks/plumbing systems for the stadia interfere with the refrigerating systems of the ice rinks?  

Please - I need to know.

[thatsnotmypuppy 558]

Uh, TNMP, wasn't the 1972 Olympic Stadium in Sapporo used for long track speed skating, along with the ceremonies?

You are right - I have visited the existing stadium and it is an athletics ground - so that does make sense!

[Guardian 22]

Not to boast as well, but isn't Calgary 1988 the first time that BOTH opening and closing ceremonies were held in the same stadium?

[memorabilia 80]

92 - Albertville - temp stadium next to the speed skating oval.

Temporary - dismantled after the Games.

Quite right about Albertville.

They remove the temporary stand, but let the kind of totem which was at the center of the stage.

They realised a park around this totem where you could enter for free.

[splinterhead 0]

From the shape of it, I always thought Nagano's ceremonies were held in it's baseball stadium.

[Guest ryan04]

From the shape of it, I always thought Nagano's ceremonies were held in it's baseball stadium.

They were, from what I rember, they built the stadium and it would be used for OC/CC and then used for baseball after.

[barrack 75]

Speed skating indoors really only started in Calgary.  Albertville was the last outdoor speed skating tournament in 1992.  Lillehammer, Nagano, SLC and Torino have all also been inside - Vancouver is planned indoors and all 2014 bidders appear to be planning covered ovals.

Almaty, it seems, is planning to host the Speed Skating events at the Medeo track. It seems to be famous. I'm honestly not sure why. At any rate, it is an outdoor facility.

[Kenadian 300]

Almaty's speed skating venue is famous because it was highly engineered to be one of the fastest rinks in existance.  That's the old Soviet sports machine at work!  But in their 2014 bid, Almaty is proposing a roof to be constructed over the facility.

An indoor facility is optimal because it allows for absolute climate control.  Calgary could have been ruined by the warm spell that blew through there before the Games.  But the Olympic Oval was completely protected from chinooks.

As for BC Place Stadium, the place is 60 metres tall and holds seats for up to 60000 so it has plenty of room for the Olympic flame.  It is about the same height at Stadium Australia.

[barrack 75]

Almaty's speed skating venue is famous because it was highly engineered to be one of the fastest rinks in existance.  That's the old Soviet sports machine at work!  But in their 2014 bid, Almaty is proposing a roof to be constructed over the facility.

It's a shame that they'll cover it. I saw some pics and it looks really neat right there in the mountains. There doesn't seem to be much seating, but it looks like there's plenty of room to add.

[baron-pierreIV 1691]

As for BC Place Stadium, the place is 60 metres tall and holds seats for up to 60000 so it has plenty of room for the Olympic flame.  It is about the same height at Stadium Australia.

Yes, except with the air-compressed roof, the interior of BC Place Stadium has a higher, slightly more concentrated oxygen content. So...

whoosh!!

[stryker 61]

Just thought I'd add a little bit of info. on a couple of the stadiums.

Rice-Eccles Stadium is currently the home for the University of Utah football team and Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake.

McMahon Stadium had temporary seating added for the games in Calgary.  The stadium is currently the home of the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders.