Permanent reminders
Created for the 1948 Games, Olympic Way and the Olympic Roll of Honour remain in place at the new Wembley Stadium today.
Walking down Olympic Way, also known (incorrectly) as Wembley Way, is an integral part of the matchday experience at Wembley Stadium, adding to the sense of occasion in the prelude to major football cup finals and international matches. Half a mile in length, it channels fans in their thousands from Wembley Park underground station to the newly completed Olympic Steps, which lead up to the stadium’s gates.
Olympic Way has been transformed in recent years. Repaved and widened by 50 per cent, it is also now home to 48 trees. Planted in pairs along the Way, they represent the world’s temperate zones and are a tribute to the 1948 Olympic Games, as are the 48 Olympic Steps.
This iconic thoroughfare was built as part of the refurbishment of the Empire Stadium in preparation for London 1948, and was designed to improve access from the underground station. Built with the assistance of German prisoners of war due to an acute labour shortage, it opened on 6 July 1948, three weeks before the Games got under way. Olympic Way was the setting for the closing stages of the Olympic torch relay and the marathon, two events that helped establish it as the route to the world-famous stadium.
It was upgraded in the 1970s, when ramps were built on either side of it to take fans up to a raised concourse in front of the stadium. When the old Wembley was demolished in the 2003 and a new stadium rose in its place, Olympic Way retained its status as the main spectator route to the venue.
Also still in place, the Olympic Roll of Honour comprises two large plaques made up of glazed tiles listing the gold medallists at the 1948 Olympic Games. Measuring 3.11m high and 1.95m wide, and weighing 12 tons each, the plaques were originally set in the walls on either side of the Royal Tunnel, but were removed and kept safe when the stadium was demolished. They returned to Wembley in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. Warranty reasons prevented the plaques from being reinstalled inside the stadium, and they are now housed in a purpose-built exhibition space in the concourse.