For the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a total of thirty-seven venues were used. Events took place at eleven pre-existing venues, twelve new venues constructed for the Olympics, and eight temporary venues that were removed following the games. In addition, six venues outside Beijing hosted events, two of which were newly built for the Olympics.
Beijing won its bid to host the 2008 Olympics on 13 July 2001. The first new venues to begin construction were the Beijing National Stadium, Beijing National Aquatics Center, Beijing Shooting Range Hall, and the Laoshan Velodrome, where major work commenced in December 2003. By May 2007, construction had begun at all of the Beijing venues for the games. Approximately RMB¥13 billion (US$1.9 billion) was spent to build and renovate the venues.
Several venues were located at the Olympic Green Olympic Park. The largest venue at the games in terms of seating capacity was the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, which had a capacity of 91,000 at the time and was the site for the opening and closing ceremonies. The smallest venue in terms of seating capacity was the temporary Laoshan Mountain Bike Course, which had a capacity of 2,000.
Venues Olympic Green VenueSportsCapacity Ref. Olympic Green Tennis Center Tennis 32,400Olympic Green Archery Field Archery5,000Olympic Green Convention Center Fencing, Modern Pentathlon (fencing, shooting)5,695Olympic Green Hockey Field Field hockey17,000
Universities and gymnasiums VenueSportsCapacity Ref. Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium Judo, Taekwondo 8,024 Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium Badminton, Gymnastics (rhythmic) 7,500 China Agricultural University Gymnasium Wrestling 8,000 Peking University Gymnasium Table tennis 8,000 Beihang University Gymnasium Weightlifting5,400 Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Volleyball5,000
New competition venues
VenueSportsCapacity Ref. Beijing National Aquatic Center Swimming, Diving and Synchronized Swimming 17,000 Beijing National Indoor Stadium Gymnastics (artistic, trampoline), Handball (final)19,000 Beijing National Stadium Athletics, Football (final), opening and closing ceremonies91,000 Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium Judo, Taekwondo 8,024 Beijing Shooting Range Hall Shooting (pistol, rifle) 9,000 Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium Badminton, Gymnastics (rhythmic) 7,500 China Agricultural University Gymnasium Wrestling 8,000 Laoshan Velodrome Cycling (track) 6,000 Olympic Green Tennis Center Tennis 17,400 Peking University Gymnasium Table tennis 8,000 Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park Rowing, Canoeing, and Swimming (marathon) 37,000 Wukesong Indoor Stadium Basketball 18,000
Existing competition venues
VenueSportsCapacity Ref.Beihang University Gymnasium Weightlifting5,400Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium Volleyball5,000Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field Shooting (shotgun) 5,000Capital Indoor Stadium Volleyball (final) 18,000Fengtai Softball Field Softball13,000Laoshan Mountain Bike Course Cycling (Mountain Bike) 2,000Olympic Sports Centre Football, Modern Pentathlon (riding, running)36,228Olympic Sports Center GymnasiumHandball7,000Workers Indoor ArenaBoxing13,000Workers Stadium Football 70,161Ying Tung Natatorium Water Polo, Modern Pentathlon (swimming)4,852
Temporary competition venues
VenueSportsCapacity Ref.Beach Volleyball Ground Volleyball (beach) 12,000BMX Field Cycling (BMX) 4,000Olympic Green Archery Field Archery5,000Olympic Green Convention Center Fencing, Modern Pentathlon (fencing, shooting)5,695Olympic Green Hockey Field Field hockey17,000Triathlon Venue Triathlon10,000Urban Road Cycling Course Cycling (road race)n/aWukesong Baseball Field Baseball18,000
Competition venues outside Beijing
VenueLocationSportsCapacity Ref.Hong Kong Equestrian VenuesHong KongEquestrian18,000Qingdao International Sailing Center QingdaoSailingn/aQinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center StadiumQinhuangdaoFootball33,572Shanghai StadiumShanghaiFootball80,000Shenyang Olympic Sports Center StadiumShenyangFootball60,000Tianjin Olympic Center StadiumTianjinFootball60,000
Notes 1. Both the Urban Road Cycling Course and the Qingdao International Sailing Center did not have spectator seating, and therefore no capacities are listed in this table. Spectators for events held at these venues could observe events held in them from regular pedestrian areas such as sidewalks.
References
External links Olympic Venue Distribution overlay on Google Maps – Unofficial overlay on satellite imagery. (Overlay on MSN Maps)