The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad and commonly known as Athens 1896, was the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had been created by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, it was held in Athens, Greece, from 6 to 15 April 1896.
The 2004 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad and also known 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. The 2004 Games was the first of two consecutive Olympic games to be held in Southern Europe since the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and was followed by the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
The 2004 Summer Paralympics, the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece from 17 to 28 September 2004. 3,808 athletes from 136 countries participated. During these games 304 World Records were broken with 448 Paralympic Games Records being broken across 19 different sports. 8,863 volunteers worked along the Organizing Committee.
Manchester Velodrome is an indoor Olympic-standard cycle-racing track in Manchester, England, which opened in 1994. Part of the National Cycling Centre, the facility has been home to British Cycling since 1994, coinciding with the nations rise to track cycling dominance at World and Olympic level. The velodrome was also home to UCI ProTeam Ineos Grenadiers, formerly known as Team Sky between 2010 and 2019, a period when the team won 6 Tour de France, 2 Vuelta a Espana and 1 Giro d'Italia with Great Britain riders.
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.
The Olympic Stadium of Athens "Spyros Louis" is a sports stadium in Marousi, in the north section of Athens, Greece. It is a part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex 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. More recently, the stadium was the home of AEK Athens and the Greece national football team until the inauguration of the Agia Sophia Stadium in 2022. Greece's two biggest football clubs, Olympiacos and Panathinaikos have also used the stadium as a home ground in the past. Panathinaikos have been set to use the stadium for the team's home European games in the 2023–24 season, but the stadium was temporarily closed over a failed safety inspection in October 2023 after only hosting the first group stage match.
The Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre is a complex at the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Marousi, Athens, Greece, consisting of two outdoor pools and one indoor pool, that was built for the 1991 Mediterranean Games. It was refurbished and expanded for the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Paralympics. The larger of the two outdoor pools, which seats 11,500 spectators, hosted swimming and water polo events. The smaller pool, which hosted synchronized swimming, had the capacity for 5.300 people. The indoor pool also hosted the water polo finals and diving and the swimming during the Paralympics had capacity for another 6.300 persons.
The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct is a series of sports stadiums and venues, located in Melbourne, Victoria, in Australia. The precinct is situated around 3 km east of the Melbourne central business district, located in suburbs of Melbourne and Jolimont, near East Melbourne and Richmond.
The Neo Phaliron Velodrome was a velodrome and sports arena in the Neo Faliro District of Piraeus, Greece, used for the cycling events at the Athens 1896 Summer Olympics. The property was donated by the Athens-Piraeus train company to the Hellenic Olympic Committee. It became the home of two football clubs which expanded into more sports: Ethnikos Piraeus (1923) and Olympiacos CFP (1925).
Lee Valley VeloPark is a cycling centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, England. It is owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and it was opened to the public in March 2014. The facility was one of the permanent venues for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Vikingskipet, officially known as Hamar Olympic Hall, is an indoor multi-use sport and event venue in Hamar, Norway. It was built as the speed skating rink for the 1994 Winter Olympics, and has since also hosted events and tournaments in ice speedway, motorcycle speedway, rally, association football, bandy, ice sledge speed racing, flying disc and track cycling. The arena is also used for concerts, trade fair and the annual computer party The Gathering. It is the home arena of Hamar IL bandy team. The venue is owned by Hamar Municipality, and along with Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre is run by the municipal Hamar Olympiske Anlegg. Vikingskipet has a capacity for 10,600 spectators during sporting events and 20,000 during concerts.
The Dunc Gray Velodrome is an Australian velodrome located at Bass Hill approximately 5 kilometres north west of the Sydney suburb of Bankstown. The cycling venue for the 2000 Summer Olympics, the Dunc Gray Velodrome was opened on 28 November 1999 with an opening ceremony which included performances by local talent Darren Sharp and other community groups. The Velodrome is named after Dunc Gray, the first Australian to win a cycling gold medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1932.
The Sleeman Centre is a sporting and entertainment facility located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
The Barra Velodrome was a track cycling venue located in Barra da Tijuca, in western Rio de Janeiro, and was one of three venues constructed as part of the City of Sports Complex for the 2007 Pan American Games, where it hosted track cycling and speed roller skating events. The venue was initially slated to host cycling events for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but was instead demolished in favour of the replacement Rio Olympic Velodrome, after the International Cycling Union (UCI) deemed the venue unsuitable for the games. The Olympic Aquatics Stadium now occupies the former site of the velodrome.
The Rio Olympic Velodrome, officially the Velódromo Municipal do Rio, is a velodrome located in the Barra Olympic Park sports complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Built as a replacement for the former Barra Velodrome, the venue hosted track cycling events during the 2016 Summer Olympics, and is scheduled to host track cycling events during the 2016 Summer Paralympics. After the conclusion of the games, the velodrome will form part of the Olympic Training Center.
The VELO Sports Center is a velodrome located in Carson, California, United States. It is currently the only cycling track of its kind located in the United States. Formerly known as the ADT Event Center or LA Velodrome, it opened in 2004 on the California State University, Dominguez Hills Campus, part of the Dignity Health Sports Park complex. The facility is owned and operated by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG).
For the 2004 Summer Olympics, a total of thirty-five sports venues were used. Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, which used venues such as Panathinaiko Stadium and the city of Marathon for which the long-distance race would be named. From the end of the 1896 Games until the late 1970s, Greece underwent numerous political changes that included the Balkan Wars, two World Wars, a civil war, and a military coup that resulted in a junta that lasted from 1967 to 1974. A change in democracy in 1975 resulted in Greece's admission into the European Economic Community in 1979.
The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium, is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the home ground of the Piraeus football club Olympiacos. It is named after Georgios Karaiskakis, a military commander of the Greek War of Independence, who is national hero and was mortally wounded in the area.
The cycling competitions of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo featured 22 events in five disciplines. The 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Barra Olympic Park, originally the City of Sports Complex, is a cluster of nine sporting venues in Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The park, which served as the Olympic Park for the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics, was originally built for the 2007 Pan American Games, consisting of three venues. The complex was later expanded to nine venues for the Olympics, two of which are temporary structures. The complex will later become the site of the Olympic Training Center, after the games conclude.
