Stadio Olimpico

Stadio Olimpico (pronounced [ˈstaːdjo oˈlimpiko]; English: Olympic Stadium), colloquially known as l'Olimpico (The Olympic), is an Italian multi-purpose sports venue located in Rome. Seating over 70,000 spectators, it is the largest sports facility in Rome and the second-largest in Italy, after Milan's San Siro. It formerly had a capacity of over 100,000 people, and was also called Stadio dei Centomila (Stadium of the 100,000). It is owned by Sport e Salute, a government agency that manages sports venues, and its operator is the Italian National Olympic Committee. The Olimpico is located in northwestern Rome in the Foro Italico sports complex. Construction began in 1928 under Enrico Del Debbio and the venue was expanded in 1937 by Luigi Moretti. World War II interrupted further expansions; after the Liberation of Rome in June 1944, the stadium was used by the Allies as vehicle storage and as a location for Anglo-American military competitions. After the war, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), appointed as operator of the venue, completed construction, and it was opened on 17 May 1953 with a football game between Italy and Hungary. Since opening, the stadium has been home to the city's principal professional football clubs, S.S. Lazio and A.S. Roma. Ciro Immobile has scored the most goals at the stadium (120). It changed its name to Olimpico in 1955, when Rome was awarded responsibility for the 1960 Summer Olympics. Before 1990, the venue was almost entirely unroofed, except for the Monte Mario Grandstand (Italian: Tribuna Monte Mario). In 1990, the Olimpico was rebuilt and roofed for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The Olimpico was the principal venue for the 1968 and 1980 European Championships as well as the 1990 FIFA World Cup, hosting the grand final for each competition, as well as a group stage and one of the quarter-finals of the 2020 European Championship. The venue hosted two finals of the European Cup, in 1977 and 1984, and two UEFA Champions' League finals, in 1996 and 2009. Since 2008, the Olimpico has hosted the Coppa Italia final. The Olimpico hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and track-and-field events of the 1960 Olympics, the 1974 European Athletics Championships, the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1975 Universiade. In 2024, it hosted the European Athletics Championships. It has hosted the Golden Gala since 1980 and, since 2012, is the usual venue of the Italian rugby union team in the Six Nations Championship. After its 1990 reconstruction, the stadium has also hosted concerts. The record for highest attendance for a musical event at the stadium was set in 1998 when 90,000 spectators attended a concert of Claudio Baglioni.