Built For the Olympic Games Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vancouver, Canada

Built for the XXI Winter Olympics in 2010, the Richmond Olympic Oval had lasting appeal in its home city of Vancouver due to Canada's inclination towards winter sports. During the games it played host to the speed skating events while nearby venues like the Pacific Coliseum and UBC Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre hosted figure skating and ice hockey respectively.

The hosting venue for these games-- BC Place-- was built in 1983 and repurposed for the event. This made the Olympic Oval the largest venue specifically built for the games.

Answer: Athens, Greece

Celebrating the games of the XXVIII Olympiad in 2004, 108 years after hosting the inaugural Olympiad, Athens actually utilized a number original venues that were found in Ancient Greek Games. The Panathenaic Stadium is a bit of an interesting one because it was originally constructed as a resource in 144 AD and was reconstructed for the first Olympiad in 1896. During the games in 2004, it played home to both the archery events and the finish line of the marathon which, as is only fitting, started in the town of Marathon, Greece.

Answer: Sochi, Russia

Sochi constructed many of its venues for the XXII Olympic Games (in 2014) from scratch including the opening/closing ceremony-hosting Fisht Olympic Stadium, named after the nearby Caucasus peak. Likewise, structures like the Bolshoy Ice Dome, built for the ice hockey finals, the Iceberg Skating Palace, and the Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex in the mountain cluster village of Krasnaya Polyana ended up being freshly-built. All of them were repurposed for sporting events after the games with the Fisht Olympic Stadium becoming a FIFA World Cup venue in 2018 (and becoming the southernmost stadium of said games.

Answer: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

While many of the venues for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro were refurbished and existing structures (like Maracanã Stadium and the Olympic Stadium, Engenhão), Brazil still ended up providing several new establishments for athletic use to commemorate the first-ever South American-hosted Olympics. Ultimately, those venues (including the three connected Carioca Arenas, used for basketball, judo, wrestling, taekwondo, and fencing) ended up being dwarfed by the existing stadiums in capacity. Maracanã, for instance, had a capacity of over 70,000 spectators for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Answer: Sydney, Australia

Built in 1998 for the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, it was named after the first Australian Olympic gold medalist. Ultimately it was used for indoor cycling events. It wasn't the only structure built for these games though; the Sydney Olympic Park, including Stadium Australia, was built to hold more than 114,000 spectators for the closing ceremonies, then the largest present audience for any Olympic Games in history. Football matches were held there in the main stadium as well as in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Canberra.

Answer: Pyongchang, South Korea

Pyongchang is a bit more noteworthy in regards to venues because unlike many of its contemporaries, its venue for the opening/closing ceremonies was a temporary structure, dismantled after six months of use (for the Olympics and the Paralympics). On the same note, these games used existing venues at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium, the Yongpyong Alpine Centre, and Phoenix Snow Park for its mountain events. Ice events were hosted in the coastal city of Gangneung where indoor venues were constructed specifically for the games.

Answer: Turin, Italy

Hosting the twentieth Winter Olympic Games in 2006, Turin, Italy made use of neighbouring Alpine towns in Northern Italy for its outdoor events, so while athletes stayed in Turin, others were also housed in Sestriere and Bardonecchia. While the Oval Lingotto was built for speed skating events for these games, other buildings like the Palavela (home to the figure skating events) were refurbished after nearly fifty years of prior use.

The Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, used for the opening and closing ceremonies, was built in the 1930s.

Answer: Salt Lake City, United States

The host city of the 2002 Winter Games, Salt Lake City, Utah, spared no expense on venues. The Peaks Ice Arena, built ahead of schedule to host ice hockey events, was constructed in Provo, Utah in late 1998, four years in advance of the games. Likewise, a number of the outdoor events were held at a ski resort built specifically for the games and named Soldier Hollow; it was made in
Wasatch Mountain State Park. The ceremonies were held at the University of Utah campus at the purpose-rebuilt Rice-Eccles Stadium; it took three years to renovate.

Answer: London, United Kingdom

Hosting the thirtieth modern Summer Games, many world-famous London sites and landmarks were thrust to center-stage with the O2 and the Ricoh Arena playing major roles in events. Athletes also completed events in Hyde Park, Wembley Stadium, and the Lord's Cricket Ground). That said, the new London Olympic Stadium was built over three years in time for the event in 2012.

The Copper Box Arena, initially expected to hold more events, was built specifically for the games in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and used for the pentathlon.

Answer: Beijing, China

The most popular venue to come out of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing was definitely the Beijing National Stadium, quickly dubbed The Bird's Nest due to its unique architecture. Beijing, unlike many other host cities, chose to construct almost all new structures for its events, avoiding refurbishment in favour of new infrastructure.

As a result, Beijing's Bird's Nest, the Water Cube (home to swimming and diving events), and Olympic Green became world-class sporting establishments, some of which involved planned reuse for the 2022 Winter Olympics.