Stadio Olimpico

About

Stadio Olimpico (pronounced [ˈstaːdjo oˈlimpiko]; English: Olympic Stadium), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. Seating over 70,000 spectators, it is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after Milan's San Siro. It formerly had a capacity of over 100,000 people, and was also called Stadio dei Centomila (Stadium of the 100,000). It is owned by Sport e Salute, a government agency that manages sports venues, and its operator is the Italian National Olympic Committee. The Olimpico is located in northwestern Rome in the Foro Italico sports complex. Construction began in 1928 under Enrico Del Debbio and the venue was expanded in 1937 by Luigi Moretti. World War II interrupted further expansions; after the Liberation of Rome in June 1944, the stadium was used by the Allies as vehicle storage and as a location for Anglo-American military competitions. After the war, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), appointed as operator of the venue, completed construction, and it was opened on 17 May 1953 with a football game between Italy and Hungary. Since opening, the stadium has been home...

The 1909 plan for the city, designed by the architect and urban planner Edmondo Sanjust, had no sports venues in the northwestern sector of Rome. In 1926, the fascist regime, which saw sport as an effective propaganda tool, changed the plan to include an area for a sports complex. The 85-hectare area was a swamp at the bottom of a hill called Monte Mario, on the right bank of the river Tiber, in the Della Vittoria quarter.

The Foro Italico sports complex was commissioned by the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), a youth organisation established by the Fascist government. Work commenced in 1928 under the supervision of the architect Enrico Del Debbio, and the Stadio dei Cipressi was one of the venues partially completed in time to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of fascism in Italy. The stadium was opened to the public on 22 October 1932, though without the planned capacity of 100,000. Its main terrace was located on the slope of Monte Mario; because the ground was marshy from rainwater that came down the hill, the playing field was created by raising the ground by 4 meters with two million cubic meters of soil excavated for the foundations. The facility was suitable for both sporting competitions and large gatherings due to its pitch covering ~20,000 square metres.

The official opening took place on the 14th anniversary of the Italian victory in World War I, with a gymnastics exhibition organized by the various youth Fascist associations.

Since the regime intended to apply to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, starting from 1933 the Stadio dei Cipressi was extended. This was completed by architects Luigi Moretti, Angelo Frisa and Achille Pintonello, who designed a concrete structure which hosted a main football pitch and secondary pitches for basketball and weightlifting. The expanded stadium was opened on 9 May 1937, the first anniversary of the Italian Empire. While the capacity of the stadium was less than 60,000, there were plans to raise it to 100,000. After the absorption of the ONB by the National Fascist Party's youth branch, the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (GIL), the GIL became the owner of the stadium and the rest of the sports complex.

Despite becoming a multisport venue, the stadium was never used for anything other military exhibitions and mass gatherings. In 1938, it hosted a parade to welcome German dictator Adolf Hitler during his state visit in Rome and, later, to host a gymnastics exhibition organized by the GIL.

In September 1941 the stadium hosted a military celebration of the Tripartite Pact, the political and military alliance between Italy, Germany and Japan.

Planned extensions of the stadium were interrupted by the Italian campaign in WWII and the subsequent fall of Fascism in Italy. When Allied forces entered Rome in 1944, the stadium was used by the Allied troops for vehicle storage and military sports events.

With the fall of the Fascism regime in Italy, the Badoglio government abolished Fascist organizations and reassigned their assets to a new agency, called the Commissariato della Gioventù Italiana (Commission for the Italian Youth), with the provision that after the end of World War II, the Commission's assets would be absorbed into either the Defence Office or the Education Department, depending on their purpose. However, the Commission was never abolished and it retained ownership of the Foro Italico, including the stadium.

After World War II, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) was appointed as operator of the site. CONI chairman Giulio Onesti announced that renewal works would finish in 1950.

The renewal project was led by engineer Carlo Roccatelli and architect Cesare Valle.

The stadium's governance was the subject of a fierce political battle. The Communist Party, through its newspaper, l'Unità, accused the Commission for the Italian Youth, led by Giovanni Valente – a member of the Christian Democracy party – of misuse of the complex to establish a sports organization parallel to CONI to favour sports clubs close to Azione Cattolica, a lay Catholic association. Later in the decade, l ' Unità also accused Valente of mortgaging the complex for three billion lire (approx. 1,500,000 € or 1,600,000 $), to finance ENAL that Valente directed in establishing an alternative betting pool to the Totocalcio (organized by CONI). In 1976, the Commission was abolished and its assets were absorbed by the Italian government.

Annibale Vitellozzi replaced Roccatelli in 1951 after the latter's death. In 1952, the stadium's reconstruction was completed, at a cost of 3,400,000,000 lire (approx 1,700,000 €).

The new stadium was a 33,500 square-metre concrete structure, clad with travertine. It was composed of two parallel stands of approximately 140 metres each, the Tevere Grandstand ( Italian : Tribuna Tevere ) on the eastern side and the Monte Mario Grandstand ( Italian : Tribuna Monte Mario ) on the western side. The northern and southern stands, (respectively, in Italian, Curva Nord and Curva Sud ) were shaped as two hemicycles with a radius of 95 metres. The athletics track was 507 metres long. The stadium was 319 metres long and 189 wide. The height from the pitch to the top of the grandstands was about 18 metres, however the top of the grandstand were only 13 metres above surface level, with the pitch about 4.5 metres below surface level. The sinking of the pitch was done to prevent the stadium from dominating the Foro Italico's skyline, and to match with other buildings.

Visitors could access the stadium through ten gates, two for each hemycicle stand and three for each straight stand. The whole stadium was unroofed except the Monte Mario Grandstand. Atop the grandstand was an 80-meter long steel structure composed off 40 2-meter wide cubicles, for use by radio and TV commentators. There was also a press room, equipped with 54 phone booths, and teletype, wirephoto and telegraph facilities. 572 seats were reserved for the press.

The Stadio dei Centomila ( Stadium of the 100,000), named after its expected capacity, was officially opened on 17 May 1953 by the President of Italy, Luigi Einaudi. An International Cup 's football match between Italy and Hungary was held, as well as the finish line of the sixth stage (from Naples to Rome ) of the Giro d'Italia. Hungary won 3–0, with a goal by Nándor Hidegkuti, the first ever scorer in the stadium, and two goals from Ferenc Puskás. The sixth leg of the Giro d'Italia was won by Giuseppe Minardi, with the crowd from the football game watching the finish line.

The following Sunday, the stadium hosted its first ever club football match, a Serie A game between SS Lazio and Juventus FC, won by Juventus 1–0 with a goal from Pasquale Vivolo. The next matchday, AS Roma debuted in the stadium, with a draw 0–0 against SPAL.

In 1954, Italy hosted the fifth Rugby Union European Cup. The stadium hosted the final between Italy and France. France won 39–12 in front of an estimated crowd of 25,000.

In 1955, the International Olympic Committee appointed Rome the host city of the 17th Summer Olympics, to be held in 1960. The decision made works to make the stadium compliant for the event more urgent. By this point, the name 'Dei Centomila' was being slowly replaced by 'Olimpico'. Works were relatively minimal due to the venue's young age. Reserved press seats were raised from 572 to 1,126, and four lighting towers were constructed for evening events. Two electronic scoreboards were also installed atop of the northern and southern stands, starting operation on 18 October 1959 with an association football league match between SS Lazio and AS Roma, the two tenant clubs of the venue, won 3–0 by the latter. An autonomous power plant able to produce 375,000 watts was installed.

On 25 August 1960, the stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the 17th Summer Olympics. Three gold medals were won by American sprinter Wilma Rudolph, in the 100 metres, an Olympic record at the time, 200 metres, with a world record in the semi-final heat, and 4 × 100 relay, also with a world record and together with her team mates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones.