The Hellinikon Olympic Complex is a closed, partially demolished sports complex, situated at Elliniko, a suburban town in the southern part of the Athens urban agglomeration, approximately 16 kilometres from the Olympic Village. It was built on the site of the former Hellinikon International Airport for the staging of the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Paralympics. It consists of five separate venues.
The Indoor arena was an arena adjacent to the Fencing Hall. It hosted the Basketball preliminary matches and the Handball finals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The facility seats 15,000 [1] spectators for basketball, although only 10,700 seats were made publicly available during the Olympics - and seats 13,500 fans for handball - though only 10,300 seats were made publicly available during the games. The facility was completed on May 31, 2004 and officially opened on July 30, 2004.
During the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, the Indoor Arena was the venue for Wheelchair rugby. It has also been the home arena of the Greek basketball club Panionios, and it has also hosted several finals matches of the Greek Cup. The Greek basketball club Panellinios also played European cup home games at the arena.
It was demolished in 2022. [2]
Demolished along with the arena and other buildings in 2022. [2]
The Olympic Baseball Centre in Athens consists of two Baseball stadiums. It was the site of the Baseball games at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The larger stadium seats 8,700 fans-though only 6,700 seats were made publicly available during the Olympics; the smaller stadium seats 4,000 spectators, though only 3,300 seats were made publicly available during the Games. The facility had to be constructed with significant foreign help in the design, as there were only a handful of dusty baseball diamonds in the whole of Greece before the 2004 Olympics were awarded to Athens in 1997. Construction on the facility was completed on February 27, 2004, and it was officially opened on August 12, 2004, a day before the Opening Ceremonies. During the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games, the Olympic Baseball Centre was the venue for Archery. Demolished in 2023.
Only venue of the complex that will not be demolished after the Hellenikon Metropolitan Park is built. The venue will be transformed to a pond.
The table below lists the current status and usage of the Hellinikon Olympic Complex facilities. Venues in italics have been demolished.
Facility | Olympics Use | Current/Proposed Use |
---|---|---|
Hellinikon Basketball Stadium | Basketball, Handball | Home court for Panellinios BC and Panionios BC (basketball)., [3] Conventions and trade shows [4] Also part of events hall with fencing hall. |
Hellinikon Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre | Canoe/Kayak | Turned over to a private consortium (J&P AVAX, GEP, Corfu Waterparks and BIOTER), plans to convert it to a water park [5] [6] |
Hellinikon Fencing Hall | Fencing | Part of Events hall with the basketball stadium. [7] |
Hellinikon Olympic Hockey Centre | Field Hockey | Mini-football, will be part of new Hellinikon metropolitan park complex [8] |
Hellinikon Baseball Stadium | Baseball | Converted to football pitch, home field of Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. (Football; Greek second division) [9] [10] |
Hellinikon Olympic Softball Stadium | Softball | Concerts [8] |
The site was used to house refugee populations in the current Refugee crisis in Europe. The three camps were home to over three thousand refugees living in mostly tented accommodation. [11]
There are currently works under way to convert much of the former Hellinikon International Airport site to a metropolitan park, that requires demolishing of the complex's venues. [2]
The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, and officially branded as Athens 2004, were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes compete, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries, with 301 medal events in 28 different sports. The 2004 Games marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance, and also marked the first time Athens hosted the Games since their first modern incarnation in 1896 as well as the return of the Olympic games to its birthplace. Athens became one of only four cities at the time to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games on two occasions. A new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since 1928. The new design features the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens rectifying the long-running mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue.
Ellinikon International Airport, sometimes spelled Hellinikon, was an international airport that served Athens, Greece, for 63 years. Following its closure on 28 March 2001, it was replaced in service by the new Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos. The airport was located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada. It was named after the village of Elliniko, now a suburb of Athens. The airport had an official capacity of 11 million passengers per year, but served 13.5 million passengers during its last year of operations. A large portion of the site was converted into a stadium and sports facilities for the 2004 Olympic Games.
The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens Spiros Louis or OACA (OAKA)), is a sport facilities complex located at Marousi, in the north section of the city. The complex consists of five major venues as well as other supplementary sport facilities.
SUNEL Arena, also known as the Ano Liosia Olympic Hall, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Ano Liosia, in the western section of Athens, Greece. Originally built to host martial arts events during the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, the arena has since been adapted for various uses. In 2021, the arena became the home for AEK B.C., for their games in the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League.
The Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Sports Complex is a complex in the coastal zone of Athens, Greece. It consists of two indoor arenas and a beach volleyball stadium, and it hosted Handball, Taekwondo, and volleyball events at the 2004 Summer Olympics. The complex is located in Faliro, Attica.
The Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall is an indoor arena that is located in Peristeri, west Athens. The hall was the site of the boxing events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The venue originally seated 8,400, though it had a public capacity of only 5,600 for the 2004 Olympics.
The Pankritio Stadium is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Heraklion on the island of Crete. It was completed on 31 December 2003, and officially opened on 11 August 2004. As one of the most modern sports venues in Greece at the time, it was used as one of the football venues to host matches of the 2004 Summer Olympic football tournament. It has a capacity of 26,240 seats, and is currently the home ground of local association football club Ergotelis, and on occasion, of Greece.
The Olympic Stadium of Athens "Spyros Louis" is a sports stadium in Marousi, in the north section of Athens, Greece. With a total capacity of 75,000, it is the largest sports venue in Greece. It is a part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) and is named after the first modern Olympic marathon gold medalist in 1896, Spyros Louis. The stadium served as the main stadium during the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Paralympics, including the opening and closing ceremonies.It is the current home ground of Panathinaikos F.C.
The Athens Olympic Tennis Centre is a grouping of 16 tennis courts at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in Marousi, Athens, Greece. The centre consists of a main stadium, known as The Main Court, seating 8,600 fans - though only 6,000 seats were made publicly available during the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Paralympics- two semifinal courts, seating 4,300 spectators - though only 3,200 seats were made publicly available during the Olympics - and thirteen side courts, seating 200 observers each.
The Nikos GalisOlympic Indoor Hall of O.A.C.A. is a part of the Spyros Louis Olympic Athletic Center of Athens, was completed in 1994 and is the largest indoor venue in Greece. It was used for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics. The venue is located in Marousi, in the northern section of Athens. During its construction, it was considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of Europe.
P.A.O.K. Sports Arena is an indoor arena located in Pylaia, Thessaloniki, Greece, and it hosts the men's basketball, women's basketball, men's volleyball and women's volleyball departments of the multi-sports club PAOK.
The Peace and Friendship Stadium, commonly known by its acronym SEF, is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Piraeus, on the coastal zone of Attica, Greece. The arena is mostly known for being the home to EuroLeague team Olympiacos, and is the central venue of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex. It opened in 1985 and its design was inspired by Palasport di San Siro.
The Hellinikon Olympic Indoor Arena was a multi-use sports indoor arena that was located in Elliniko, a suburban town in the southern part of the Athens urban agglomeration, Greece. It was a part of the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, and it was located adjacent to the Helliniko Fencing Hall. It was approximately 10 miles from the Athens Olympic Village. It was built on the site of the former Hellinikon International Airport for the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
The Faliro Sports Pavilion Arena, which is part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex, is an indoor arena in the suburban town of Palaio Faliro, Greece. It is nicknamed "The Little Peace And Friendship Stadium", due to its similarity in design and close proximity to the Peace and Friendship Stadium.
The Rio de Janeiro Olympic Training Center is a sports training facility in Barra da Tijuca, Brazil that opened after the 2016 Summer Olympics. The centre includes six venues used in the 2016 games and facilities created in the Barra Olympic Park footprint. The centre is located at the site of the former Nelson Piquet International Autodrome - Jacarepaguá.
Hellinikon Stadium was a stadium located at the Hellinikon Olympic Complex in Hellinikon, Athens, located approximately 8 kilometres south of the center of Athens, near Glyfada on the Aegean Sea coast. Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. played its home matches there from 2007 to 2014.
The Hellinikon Fencing Hall was a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena that was located adjacent to the Hellinikon Olympic Arena, in Hellinikon, Athens, Greece. The venue was part of the Hellinikon Events Hall of the Hellinikon Olympic Complex. It was demolished in 2022.
The Hellinikon Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre is located in the Hellinicon Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. The venue hosted the canoe slalom events for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
The Hellinikon Olympic Hockey Centre was the site of the field hockey events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Located in the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, the facility consists of two hockey fields. The larger stadium seats 7,200 fans – though only 5,200 seats were made publicly available during the Games, and the smaller stadium seats 2,100 spectators – though only 1,200 seats were made publicly available during the Games. The facility was completed on 29 February 2004 and officially opened on 11 August 2004, shortly before the beginning of the Games.
The Hellinikon Olympic Softball Stadium is a softball stadium located in the Hellinikon Olympic Complex in Athens. It hosted the softball competitions during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The venue consists of a main softball field of 4,800 seats - though only 3,400 seats were made publicly available during the games - and two warm-up fields nearby. Construction on the facility was completed on 29 February 2004, and it was officially opened on 30 July 2004.
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