Olympic Games venues, Athens 2004

ROWING AND CANOEING

The Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre will host 14,000 spectators.

The main part of the lake, which will host the rowing and canoe/kayak flatwater games, is 2,250 metres long and linked to a smaller auxiliary lake, to be used for training and warm-up purposes.


EQUESTRIAN

The Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre covers an area of approximately 940,000 square metres and includes work areas, permanent and temporary stands, fields, stables for 300 horses, internal road network and parking areas.

The capacity of the centre is 10,000 seats for the Jumping Event, 8,100 seats for the Dressage and 15,000 seats for the Cross-Country Event.

SHOOTING

The Markopoulo Olympic Shooting Centre covers an area of 312,000 sq m. It consists of four main buildings with a total capacity of 4,000 spectators, for mobile and clay target shooting.

Other facilities include restaurants, hostels, indoor halls for finals, reception areas, press areas, greenery and parking areas.

SAILING

The Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre is located in the coastal area of southern Attica.

The new construction has a capacity of 1,600 seats.

FENCING, BASKETBALL, HANDBALL, BASEBALL, SOFTBALL, CANOEING/KAYAKING AND HOCKEY

The Helliniko Olympic Complex is situated south of Athens and includes five Olympic Venues.

The Indoor Arena and the Fencing Hall will host the basketball preliminaries, the handball finals and the fencing events. Existing facilities were upgraded to meet Olympic requirements.

The Olympic Baseball Centre and the Olympic Softball Stadium will host these events.

The Olympic Canoe/Kayak Slalom Centre is a new, permanent construction, as is the Olympic Hockey Centre.

WRESTLING AND JUDO

The Ano Liossia Olympic Hall will hold approximately 9,000 wrestling and judo.

The area covers 35,000 sq.m., surrounded by supplementary support areas, such as warm up areas, athletes' rest rooms, training areas, changing rooms, medical-hygiene areas, administration, National Federation offices, security services areas, pressroom, spectators services areas, recreation areas etc.

MOUNTAIN BIKING

The Parnitha Olympic Mountain Bike Venue will host the mountain biking competition along a spectacular route at Parnitha, a mountain in the north of Athens.

The venue has a temporary overlay specifically for the events.

OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES, ATHLETICS, SOCCER, BASKETBALL, SWIMMING, TENNIS AND CYCLING

Athens Olympic Sports Complex

The Athens Olympic Sports Complex (OAKA) is situated at Maroussi and will be the centre of the Olympic Games 2004. It was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The Complex includes the Olympic Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies, the athletics events and the soccer final, the Olympic Indoor Hall, where the Basketball finals will take place, the Olympic Aquatic Centre, the Olympic Tennis Centre and the Olympic Velodrome.

MODERN PENTATHLON AND BADMINTON

The Goudi Olympic Complex consists of two venues: the Goudi Olympic Hall and the Olympic Modern Pentathlon Centre.

Shooting and fencing at the modern pentathlon, as well as badminton, will be held at the Goudi Olympic Hall.

The remaining three modern pentathlon disciplines - swimming, riding and running - will be held at the Olympic Modern Pentathlon Centre.

The complex includes a 2,500 seated area for swimming, two 5,000 seated areas for riding and running and one 3,000 seated area for fencing and shooting. Another 4,100 seated area will host the badminton in a temporary construction.

MARATHON FINISH AND ARCHERY

The Panathinaiko Stadium, widely known as "Kallimarmaro", is the stadium where the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 were held.

Historians considered it to be "a miracle above description that it had almost exhausted the marble quarries of mountain Penteli". It has been renovated for the 2004 games.

The stadium will have a 34,500 capacity for the marathon finish and 7,500 for the archery.

VOLLEYBALL, BEACH VOLLEYBALL, TAEKWONDO AND HANDBALL

The Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complexis in the south of Athens and comprises three Olympic Venues, the Sports Pavilion, the Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre and the Peace and Friendship Stadium.

The marina and esplanade at the site have also been developed for the events.

The Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre is a new venue with a capacity of 10,000, while the 8,000 seated Sports Pavillion will host the taekwondo and the handball preliminaries.

The renovated Peace and Friendship Stadium, in a modern architectural style, will play host to the volleyball.

SOCCER

The Karaiskaki Stadium is the second largest stadium in Athens. It was used as the velodrome for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

In the 1960s it was renovated into the stadium that still stands today but it has been fully renovated and transformed into a modern soccer stadium with a 33,000-seating capacity.

It will host a total of 11 men's soccer games (preliminaries, quarter-finals and semi-finals) and the women's final.

WEIGHTLIFTING

The Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hallin Nikaia, an area in the southwest of the Attica region, consists of a main indoor gym building.

The venue has supplementary areas for warming up, resting, changing, training, hygiene-medical care and hostels for the athletes, as well as additional rooms for security, press, spectators' services and recreation.

BOXING

The Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall

The boxing competition will be held at a new venue with a total capacity of 8,000.

TABLE TENNIS AND RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

The Galatsi Olympic Hall in Galatsi, a suburb northwest of Athens, includes a main building with 6,500 seats for the spectators, along with other surrounding areas, access roads, parking areas etc.

CYCLING ROAD RACE

The cycling road race will take place along the Athens centre with start and finish line at Kotzia Square. Athens 2004, in cooperation with the International Cycling Union, has designed the Athens City Centre Cycling Road Race Course, which passes through the most important sites of the Greek capital.

Full information: Athens 2004 venue information