O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall

The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall (honorarily named Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall since 2016), which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) «Spyros Louis» (Greek: O.A.K.A. «Σπύρος Λούης»), was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. It is located in Marousi, Athens. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of Europe.

O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall
Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall
Athens Olympic Indoor Hall
Full nameO.A.C.A. Indoor Sports Center
LocationAthens Olympic Sports Complex, Marousi, Athens, Greece
Coordinates38.037862°N 23.784676°E / 38.037862; 23.784676
Public transit Eirini station
OwnerGreek Government
OperatorOAKA S.A.
CapacityGymnastics: 17,600
Basketball:
18,500 (fan seating)[1]
19,250 (with media and VIPs seats)
21,098 (including standing spectators capacity)
Record attendance20,300
(Panathinaikos vs. Barcelona – Euroleague, April 2013)
SurfaceParquet
Construction
Opened1995
Renovated2002–2004
(Olympic Games)
2016
ArchitectSantiago Calatrava (renovation)
Tenants
Greece national basketball team
Panathinaikos Athens

The 19,250-capacity arena also contains a training facility. Since 2016, it is named after the well-known Greek former basketball player Nikos Galis.[2]

Construction

The A-frame designed roof (2011)

Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall is notable for its distinctive A-frame roof that features four huge pillars, each of which is 35 meters tall, that stand 108 meters apart from each other. According to the Greek Ministry of Sports,[3] it is the largest indoor sporting arena of its kind in the world. The arena is also constructed in a unique way so that an abundant amount of natural light comes into the arena during the day.[4]

The arena seats up to 17,600 for gymnastics events, although only 12,500 seats were made publicly available for the gymnastics competition at the 2004 Olympics. It seats up to 18,989 for basketball games, which includes 18,500 regular seats for the fans, 300 seats for the media members,[5] and 189 seats for VIPs.[6]

A large scale arena renovation was completed in 2004, for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The arena was then renovated again in 2016.[7]

2004 Summer Olympics

The arena during the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The arena was used for artistic gymnastics and trampolining, and also hosted the finals of the basketball matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[8] Renovation of the building for the Olympics was completed on 30 June 2004, and it was officially reopened on 10 August 2004, shortly before the beginning of the games.

Basketball use

Inside view of the arena's main hall and basketball court.

The Indoor Hall is the regular home court for the Greek Basket League professional basketball club Panathinaikos. It has also been used as the home court for Maroussi, for European-wide league matches.

The arena was used to host the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals stages of the 1998 FIBA World Championship. It is also the primary home court of the senior Greek National Basketball Team.

On 4 and 6 May 2007, the Indoor Hall hosted the EuroLeague 2006–07 season's Final Four, the semifinals and finals rounds of Europe's principal pro club competition in basketball, which saw hometown favourite Panathinaikos win the title.

On 9 December 2007, FIBA announced that the Olympic Indoor Hall was selected as the host of the 2008 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.[9] At the qualifying tournament, hosts and favourites Greece, along with the German and Croatian national basketball teams, qualified for the final 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament.[10]

On 5 April 2018, the Indoor Hall was announced as the venue of the 2018 Basketball Champions League Final Four, during which AEK Athens served as host.[11]

Musical events

Indoor Hall plan

On 18 and 20 May 2006, the Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, that was held in Athens, after Greece's victory at the Song Contest in 2005. There were 15,000 seats available for spectators, both for the semifinal and the grand final.

Some of the entertainers who have performed at the arena include Maluma, Pearl Jam, Enrique Iglesias, Depeche Mode, Jennifer Lopez, Björk, Beyoncé, Slayer, Shakira, Roger Waters, Aloha from Hell, Tokio Hotel, Helena Paparizou, Sakis Rouvas and Anna Vissi.

See also

References

Events and tenants
Preceded by
Olympiahalle
Munich
FIBA EuroBasket
Final Venue

1995
Succeeded by
Palau Sant Jordi
Barcelona
Preceded by
Palatrussardi
Milan
FIBA Intercontinental Cup
Final Venue

1996
Succeeded by
Ginásio José Corrêa
Barueri, São Paulo
Preceded by
SkyDome
Toronto
FIBA World Cup
Final Venue

1998
Succeeded by
Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis
Preceded by
Palace of Sports
Kyiv
Eurovision Song Contest
Venue

2006
Succeeded by
Hartwall Areena
Helsinki
Preceded by
Sazka Arena
Prague
EuroLeague
Final Four
Venue

2007
Succeeded by
Palacio de Deportes
Madrid
Preceded by
Santiago Martín
La Laguna
FIBA Champions League
Final Four
Venue

2018
Succeeded by
Sportpaleis
Antwerp
Preceded by
Fernando Buesa Arena
Vitoria-Gasteiz
EuroLeague
Final Four
Venue

2020
Succeeded by
TBD

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.