Natural Power in Iceland

#3 The Stadiums

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The Games main location is the Center of Sports in Laugardalur Reykjavik. Eight out of

eleven sports will take place there. All participants will stay close to Laugardalur.

One might say that Laugardalur is Iceland´s "Olympic Village".

Beach-Volleyball and Swimming competitions will take place at

Laugardalslaug. It´s the city´s largest pool. The area includes a 50m

outdoor pool, a 50m indoor pool, outdoor children’s pool and paddling

pool, two waterslides, numerous “hot pots“, steam bath, gym and mini

golf course. A new Beach-Volleyball court will be made in the area.

There will be a practice court available during the competition. The

Swimming competition will take place indoor.

Athletics competition will take place at Laugardalsvöllur, the national

stadium of Iceland. It is 105m x 68 m, with a perfect eight lane

athletics facilities.

The first stand was constructed in 1958, the opposite stand in 1997

and the old stand was renovated and extended in 2006. The stands

take 9800 individuals and 5200 others standing. The largest

attendance ever seen by the Laugardalsvöllur was 20.204 in 2004 for

a friendly match between Iceland and Italy. Iceland surprised the world

by winning the game 2-0. Many concerts have been held there, the

biggest was 25.000 people in 2007. The country’s passion for football

(soccer) is huge. Cup and international matches are played at this

national stadium.

Volleyball and Basketball competitions will take place in

Laugardalshöll, a 20.000 m² indoor sporting arena. One of the biggest

sports– and concertshall of the country. The original building was

opened in december 1965, but the addition was opened in 2005. The

capacity of the arena is 5.500 people. It hosts various sporting events,

such as Handball, Basketball, Volleyball and Athletics, as well as other

events. Aside from sporting events, it is one of the largest concert

venues in Iceland, with capacity of 11.000 people standing. Aside from

sports and music events, it serves as a general purpose hall for all

manner of events.

Perhaps the most prominent event to be held at Laugardalshöll was

the World Chess Championship 1972, often dubbed the "Match of the

Century", in which American challenger Bobby Fischer defeated

the Russian champion Boris Spassky. Another important event was

Led Zeppelin concerts in 1970, WC in handball 1995 and Eagles

concert 2011.

Table-Tennis competition will take place in TBR, Tennis– and

badmintonclub of Reykjavik. TBR was established 1938. The club has

two sportshalls, mainly used for playing badminton. The halls have 17

badmintoncourses, 5 upstairs and 12 downstairs, as well as training

area for table-tennis. Most of the table-tennis tournaments in Iceland

are held in one of the halls.

Bárðarbunga Volcano is erupting after more than 500 years sleep. About 8600 years ago the Volcano produced the largest known lava flow during the past 10.000 years on earth.

Viðey Island Viðey Island is an island about 1.6 km in total area, and it´s close to the city center. Two million years ago Viðey was an active volcano and the rock of Viðey is the oldest in the Reykjavík area. The island was inhabited soon after the settlement of Iceland around 900 AD. On the island the famous „Imagine Peace Tower“, which the legendary artist, musician and peace advocate Yoko Ono conceived. It stands as a beacon to world peace. The work is in the form of a wishing well from which a strong and tall tower of light emerges. The words „Imagine Peace“ are inscribed on the well in 24 world languages. If you want to take two hours off and relax, you can take the ferry to Viðey Island from the old harbour downtown. More info: www.videy.com/en