The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens bares the name of the first winner of the Marathon in the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, the notorious Spyros Louis, who in fact was a simple waterman from Maroussi. The construction of the premises started in 1978 and the main Stadium and the other installations were inaugurated four years later to house the European Athletics Championship in 1982.
The following years a number of other sport facilities surrounded the Main Olympic Stadium: the Olympic Velodrome (inaugurated in 1991), the Olympic Aquatics Center (1991), the Olympic Indoor Sports Center (1995), the Olympic Tennis Center (2004), as well as other supplementary sport facilities. The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens is a state-of-the-art sports facility, which greatly promoted sports activities in Greece. The facilities were finalised in 2004, with the redevelopment additions by the Spanish architect Kalatrava, and the Stadium hosted the Athens 28th Olympic Games in 2004.
OAKA web site: www.oaka.com.gr
Source: www.athensattica.gr