Olympic Games are big affairs that require massive infrastructure projects to build the various stadiums and venues. Many of the sports have specific requirements — fake white water and rocks for kayaking, huge slopes for ski jumps, or sand for beach volleyball. On top of that, these venues need to be able to support large crowds and the technology needed to manage the events.
As former Victorian premier Dan Andrews discovered in 2023, hosting big sporting events costs big money. The Tokyo Olympics are estimated to have cost $23 billion, a lot of which was spent building infrastructure. A 2022 report from the International Olympic Committee revealed that 85 per cent of the stadiums, venues and structures used in the Olympics are currently still in use.
But how are they used, were they new structures and what happened to the 15 per cent of venues that have fallen into disuse? The all-marble Panathenaic Stadium hosted the first modern Olympics in Athens, Greece, in 1896. It was used again during the 2004 Olympics (archery and the marathon finish) and is now a popular tourist attraction that has hosted events such as concerts and fashion shows in recent years. Francis Olympic Field in St Louis in the United States was used as the main venue for the 1904 Summer Olympics.
It is the oldest Olympic stadium still in regular use for official sporting events. It has been renovated several times and is currently used by Washington University’s track and field, cross country, footbal.
