| London Stadium (formerly and also known as the Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford district of London. It is located in the Lower Lea Valley, 6 miles (10 km) east of central London. The stadium was constructed specifically for the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, serving as the athletics venue and as the site of their opening and closing ceremonies. Following the Games, it was rebuilt for multi-purpose use and now serves primarily as the home of Premier League club West Ham United, who played at the Boleyn Ground before moving to the stadium in 2016.
Land preparation for the stadium began in mid-2007, with the construction officially starting on 22 May 2008. The stadium held its first public event in March 2012, serving as the finish line for a celebrity run organised by the National Lottery. Holding 80,000 for the Olympics and the Paralympics, it re-opened in July 2016 with 66,000 seats, but with capacity for football limited to 60,000 under the terms of the lease. The decision to make West Ham United the main tenants was controversial, with the initial tenancy process having to be rerun.
The stadium hosted the 2017 IAAF World Championships and 2017 World Para Athletics Championships (the first time both events were held in the same location in the same year). It hosts a round of the IAAF Diamond League each year, known as the London Grand Prix, sometimes called the London Anniversary Games. Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License - Full article |
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