Venues overview

All nine of the venues had been used at the Olympic Winter Games Innsbruck 1964 in some form, most of them receiving minor refurbishments for the 1976 Games. The one exception was the Olympic Eiskanal/Ice Track, which underwent a major upgrade between the two Games. Whereas separate bobsleigh and luge tracks were used in 1964, a single combined track was built for the 1976 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, formerly the Olympic Ice Stadium (figure skating and ice hockey); the Eisschnellaufbahn/Outdoor Ice Rink (speed skating); 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.

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.

Built as an extension of the Innsbruck 1964 Olympic Village, its 1976 counterpart helped create what is now a thriving multi-cultural neighbourhood that is popular with its residents.

One other facility built for Innsbruck 1976 and still in use today is the city’s school-teacher training academy, which was used as the press centre during the Games. As planned, the building was converted back to its main function after the Games. The University of Innsbruck made use of the academy before it was renamed the Praxisvolksschule in 2007, when it also became a fully functioning school. Extended in 2012, the academy provides schooling for several hundred local children.