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History of the Stadium
Athletics have always held quite a particular importance in Finland
and in the minds of the Finns. The first sports associations were
founded as long ago as the end of last century, and from the
beginning of the twentieth century the Finnish nation has been
animated by great zeal for sports.
Finland participated in the international Olympia movement even
before the country gained independence in 1917. The Finns' excellent
results in the Olympic Games of the 1920s fostered the dream that
one day it would be possible to hold the Games in Helsinki.
The Stadium Foundation, established 1927, started to implement this
dream, and their first and foremost task was to get a stadium built,
witch would permit Helsinki to host the Summer Olympics. Building
began on February 12, 1934, and the Stadium was inaugurated on June
12, 1938. Since its completion the Stadium has undergone eight
important stages of development. The most important was the total
modernization 1990-1994. At its maximum, in 1952, the Stadium
accommodated 70 000 spectators. Today, after the basic renovation,
the number of spectator places, all of them seats, is 40,000.
The Stadium arena, which has been described as the most beautiful in
the world, is the product of an architectural competition.
Architects Mr. Yrjö Lindegen and Mr. Toivo Jäntti won the
competition with their clearly lined functionalistic style design.
The most important events in the life of the
Helsinki Olympic Stadium were the XVth Olympic Games, 19. July-3.
August, 1952. In the opening of the Olympic Games the spectator
record of the stadium was reached 70 435 spectators and the Olympic
year is still an event which has collected most spectators. Whole
year 1952 altogether 850 000
spectators.
The Stadium Building is 243 m long and up to 159m wide. The tower is
72m high. The Stadium covers 4.9 hectares. The Olympic Stadium is
administrated by the Stadium Foundation. The Municipality of
Helsinki, the Ministry of Education and the central sports
organizations are represented in the Board
of the Foundation.
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