| Olympic Sports Hall |
| Capacity: 18,700 (for basketball) or 16,700 (for gymnastics) |
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Location:
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This
indoor hall forms part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, located
in Maroussi (a northern suburb of Athens, 9 km from the city centre).
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Access
by :
Car - Exit the city centre to the north via Kifissias Avenue and just follow the roadsigns to the "Olympic Stadium". If you come from the Attiki Odos ring road, use exit 11 (signposted "Kifissias, Olympic Stadium"). Bus - Use X14 from Syntagma Square directly to the Olympic Sports Complex. |
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Metro - The ride from the city centre takes 25 minutes. Use line 1 and get off at "Irini". From there it is a 5min walk through the Olympic Complex to the Sports Hall. |
| Builit in: 1995 |
| Home of: Greek National Team, Panathinaikos B.C. (Α1 Division) |
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More
data: The Olympic Sports Hall is one of the biggest and most modern
indoor sports arenas in Europe. Greeks call it (and its neighbouring
Olympic Stadium) simply "OAKA" - the initials for the Olympic
Sports Complex, of which it is part. The arena features a unique roof,
based only on four huge pillars (each being 35m tall and the two pairs
108m apart). It is the largest construction of this kind in the whole
world, according to the Greek Ministry of Sports. The arena is also
built in such a way as to provide abundant natural sunlight all day
long.
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Besides
ball games, the Olympic Sports Hall can also host gymnastics (for
which its capacity is reduced to 16,700, due to the removal of the
lower stands).
It has been the venue of major basketball events: the 1995 Men's European Championships, the 1995 Junior's World Championships, and the 1998 Men's World Championships. |
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The
Olympic Sports Hall was used during the 2004 Athens Olympic
Games. It hosted the finals of the basketball
tournament (not the prelimenaries), as well as artistic gymnastics
and trampoline. In order for the then ten-year old arena
to be in top shape, minor upgrading took place in early 2004. The
works mainly involved its electromechanical installations and their
total cost reached € 5 million.
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| The Athens Olympic Sports Hall is owned by the Greek State. |
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The
second space image of the Olympic Complex comes from the website of
Digitalglobe
All other photographs come from the website of the General Secretariat of Sports |
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