Innsbruck 1964: Olympic venues overview
The nine competition venues from the Olympic Winter Games Innsbruck 1964 are still in use, helping to make Innsbruck and the Tirol region one of Austria’s major sporting and cultural hubs.
Five of the nine competition venues were built for the 1964 Games: the Olympiahalle, formerly the Olympic Ice Stadium (figure skating and ice hockey), the Messehalle (ice hockey), the Olympic Ice Track (luge and bobsleigh), the Eisschnellaufbahn/Outdoor Ice Rink (speed skating), and the Toni-Seelos-Olympiaschanze (normal hill ski jumping and the ski jumping leg of Nordic combined). The resort of Axamer Lizum (Alpine skiing, except the men’s downhill) was also extensively developed for the 1964 Games.
All nine of the venues were used again at the Olympic Winter Games Innsbruck 1976, most of them receiving minor refurbishments. The one exception was the Olympic Eiskanal/Ice Track, which underwent a major upgrade between the two Games.
Six of the nine venues hosted Olympic events for a third time at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Innsbruck 2012.
The Olympiaworld umbrella brand covers three of these venues: the Olympiahalle, the Eisschnellaufbahn/Outdoor Ice Rink, and the Olympic Ice Track. Olympiaworld comprises several other indoor and outdoor facilities, with its venues catering for a total of 20 sports. Open to elite and recreational athletes alike, they stage dozens of events every year.
Rebuilt for the 1964 Games, the iconic Bergiselschanze is one of the world’s leading ski jumping venues and a popular tourist attraction. The location for the 1964, 1976 and 2012 opening ceremonies, it is the venue for the third round of the world-famous annual Four Hills Tournament, which attracts sell-out crowds of 28,000.
Tirol’s other Olympic ski jumping venue is the Toni-Seelos-Olympiaschanze, located in the Seefeld Olympiaregion resort, where the cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and biathlon events were staged in 1964, 1976 and 2012. The two jumping hills and over 250km of skiing trails continue to attract Nordic sport athletes of all ages and levels.
Directly connected to Innsbruck by a cable car that can be reached by bus or tram, Patscherkofel is a prime weekend retreat for the city’s inhabitants, who come to enjoy a wide variety of winter and summer activities. With its 40km of groomed slopes and 10 cable cars, the other Olympic Alpine skiing venue, Axamer Lizum, also remains a popular ski resort with locals and tourists alike and attracts visitors in the summer months too.
The Innsbruck 1964 Olympic Village, which was expanded for the 1976 Games, helped create what is now a thriving multi-cultural neighbourhood that is popular with its residents.