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10 Most Beautiful Olympic Venues

September 26, 2014 by Khabir Uddin Mughal

Beautiful Olympic Venues

Olympic is the greatest and the most decorated sports event on earth with its amazing rituals and symbols like Olympic flag, torch, and opening and closing ceremonies. More than 13,000 athletes participate in the 33 different sports with more than 400 events in modern Olympics. The Olympics was started by the ancient Greeks in 776 BC in Olympia as a competition among representatives of city-states. According to Greek mythology, Herakles, with his four brothers, raced at Olympia to entertain the newborn Zeus and crowned Zeus with an olive leaf wreath which is still the signature crown of modern Olympics. The four brothers are the main reason of the four years interval between each Olympic Games. Modern Olympic games were started in 1896 under the supervision of IOC and from that time it continued its journey to different countries as the host of modern Olympic Games. The stadiums used for Olympics since it was first started were the best on the planet to appropriately honor the greatest show, so here is the list of 10 most beautiful Olympic venues.

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10 Most Beautiful Olympic Venues

London Aquatics Centre

The indoor swimming facility in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park at Stratford, London, is called the London Aquatics Centre which hosted 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics. It will also host the FINA Diving World Series 2014 and the European Aquatics Championships 2016. It was designed by architect ZahaHadid in 2004 who also won the Pritzker Prize, and the construction of the center was done by the Balfour Beatty. The design of the aquatics center is inspired by the Dollan Aqua Centre in Scotland and features two 160-foot swimming pools and an 82-foot diving pool. The London Aquatics Centre is 520 feet long, 260 feet wide and 148 feet in height, and its wave-like roof covers 11,200 square feet. The construction cost of this stadium is an estimated $445 million and was completed in July 2011 with the final capacity of 17,500.

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Coca-Cola Beatbox Pavilion

The Coca-Cola Beatbox Pavilion was the showcasing venue for the 2012 London Olympic Games and is regarded as the best experimental fusion of sports, music and architecture. Coca-Cola developed this pavilion as a signature of their global campaign for 2012 London Olympic called Move to the Beat which aims to bring young spectators to the Olympic venues while mixing their passion for music and sports. It was designed by Asif Khan and PernillaOhrstedt and was opened to the public on 27 July 2012. The pavilion was covered with 200 interlocking ETFE cushions which are red and white in color and can create an interactive sound. The most amazing fact about this pavilion is that the visitors can play the whole pavilion like a musical instrument and mix five soundtracks of Coca-Cola Olympic anthem ‘Anywhere in the World’ by Mark Ronson.

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Beijing National Stadium

Beijing National Stadium is located in Olympic Green complex, China, and famously known as the Bird’s Nest. It was used as the main venue for 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Along with the sports events, the Beijing National Stadium also hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of 2008 Olympic. After a bidding process with 13 final submissions, the stadium’s design was finally made by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron with the help of project architect Stefan Marbach and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei as the artistic consultant. The final construction cost of this stadium was $428 million, and the stadium was officially opened for public on 28 June 2008. The stadium was originally designed with the capacity of 100,000 people but was reduced to 91,000 during a simplification of the design.

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Montreal Olympic Stadium

The Montreal Olympic Stadium is located in in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal, Canada and was nicknamed “The Big O” for its giant doughnut-shape roof. It is also called as “The Big Owe” as a to reference the astronomical construction cost of 770 million Canadian dollars that summed up to 1.47 billion Canadian dollars after modifications and repairs. It was primarily developed as the main venue of the 1976 Montreal Olympics and later became the home of Montreal’s football and baseball teams. The world’s tallest inclined tower called the Montreal Tower that stands 574 feet is located on the north base of the stadium. The stadium was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert and is widely considered as a masterpiece of Organic Modern architecture. The seating capacity of this stadium is 65,255.

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Beijing National Aquatics Center

The National Aquatics Center of China is located in Beijing and was nicknamed the Water Cube for its amazing architecture which resembles a water cuboid. After having ten proposals in an international architectural competition for the aquatic center project, it was finally designed and developed by Australian architecture firm PTW Architects with the help of Arup international engineering group, CSCEC and CCDI of Shanghai. It was opened officially for public on January 28, 2008, for the Olympic and officially reopened on August 8, 2010, after half of the center was redesigned as a water park. It covers a total land surface of 65,000 square meters with the seating capacity of 17,000. It was named the Project of the Year 2008 by the Australian Institute of Project Management. As an interesting fact, 2008 Olympic Swimmers broke 25 world records while participating on the Water Cube.

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Olympiastadion Munich

The Olympiastadion is located at the heart of the Olympiapark München in Munich, Germany and considered as the revolutionary architectural project for its time. It was used as the main venue for the 1972 Munich Olympics and later also hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup Final, the Euro ’88 Final and the European Cup Finals three times. It was also the home ground of FC Bayern Munich before they moved into the Allianz Arena. It was designed by German architect GüntherBehnisch and the engineer Frei Otto with a seating capacity of 80,000 which was now reduced to 69,250 after modifications. The official motto of this stadium is Die HeiterenSpiele which means The Happy Games. Besides hosting sports events, it also hosted many open-air concerts of various artistes which include Michael Jackson, U2, Coldplay, Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and many others.

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Basketball Arena London

The Basketball Arena is located in the Olympic Park in Stratford, London and was designed to be fully recyclable. It was used as the main venue for the basketball events at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and Paralympics. The arena is 115 meter long, 100 meter wide and 35 meter roof height. It was designed by the Wilkinson Eyre Architects & KSS Design Group, and the construction was developed by Barr Construction. The lighting and color‐changing effects for the evening games were designed by United Visual Artists. The construction cost of this project was estimated $ 62.5 million, and it has the seating capacity of 12,000 for basketball and handball, and 10,000 for wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball. The construction of the basketball arena was started in October 2009 and was opened officially for public in June 2011.

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London Velopark

The state-of-the-art Olympic velodrome is located at the northern half of the Olympic Park in Stratford, England, and considered as the most beautiful velodrome ever built. It was used as the main venue for the cycling events at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and Paralympics. It was designed by London based architect firm Hopkins Architects and was constructed by the Expedition Engineering Ltd and Schlaichbergermann partner. The roof of this velodrome is 22 meter high and resembles the shape of ‘Pringle’ potato chip. Along with the velodrome with Siberian pine surface, the complex has a BMX racing track, a mountain bike track and a one-mile road course. The construction cost of this project was estimated £105 million, and it has a seating capacity of 6,000 for all the events.

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Athens Olympic Sports Complex

The Olympic Athletic Center of Athens or OACA is located at Marousi city, Athens, Greece, and features five major venues and many other supplementary sports facilities. It is also known as the Spiros Louis which was named after Spyridon Louis who won the first modern-day Olympic marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics called Games of the I Olympiad in Greece. It was used as the main venue for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games after extensive renovation but before that, it also hosted the 1991 Mediterranean Games and the 1997 World Championship in Athletics. Currently, the complex is also used as the home ground of Panathinaikos FC and AEK Athens FC. It was redesigned by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava for the Olympic and mainly features a stadium, indoor hall, aquatic center, velodrome and a tennis center.

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Yoyogi National Gymnasium

Yoyogi National Gymnasium is located at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, Japan and famous for its amazing suspension roof design. It was used as the main venue for the swimming and diving events at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and will also host the handball events at the 2020 Japan Summer Olympics after extensive renovation. Besides Olympics, it also hosted the 2010 World Judo Championships and 2014 World Team Table Tennis Championship. It was designed by KenzoTange with 9,079 stand seats, 4,124 arena seats and 88 royal boxes. The construction was started in February 1963 and officially opened for public in October 1964. The design of this gymnasium was the main inspiration behind 1972 Munich Olympic Stadium designed by Thomas Jefferson Medal winner German architect Frei Otto.

Many other state-of-the-art stadiums are already in their construction phase, waiting to be used as the venues of 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Rio will be the first South American city to host an Olympic with 35 competition venues in Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracanã. Estádio Olímpico João Havelange or simply with its nickname Engenhão will be one of the most spectacular stadium to host the events in Rio Olympic.

Top 10 Most Popular Sports in the World

September 20, 2014 by Khabir Uddin Mughal

Most Popular Sports

Starting from the ancient civilization till the era of the technology, sports have always played a major role in the history of mankind. Various forms of gymnastics and acrobatics were probably the pioneer and the most popular sports of the pre-dynastic era, as it was recorded around 2000 BC. In those days, it was more of a skill development technique rather than for entertainment. Eventually, sports started to get used for recreational purposes. By looking at the Greek-Roman period, anyone can assume the wide popularity and the vital importance of the coliseum, and that of the gladiators as the main entertainment of the masses. At that time, ancient games are strangely crucial, violent or even deadly, and had their own ritualistic connections with the society. Today, the world enjoys mostly the non-morbid type of recreational, as well as traditional sports. And here is the list of 10 Most Popular Sports in the world.

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Top 10 Most Popular Sports in the World

1. Soccer

Soccer, also referred to as Association football, is a game between two teams with a spherical ball, consisting of eleven players on each side. The game is played on a rectangular field having goalposts at each end. The objective of the game is to score by placing the ball into the opposite goalpost. The goalkeepers are the only players on the ground that can touch the ball in their penalty area with their hands. Soccer is the world’s most popular sport as it is played in over 200 countries by 250 million players. It is widely considered to be derived from Ancient Greek sport “Episkyros” and the Roman version of the game “Harpastum”. The Laws of the Game were originally developed in England in 1863 by The Football Association and later governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football or FIFA.

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2. Cricket

Cricket is a team game played between two teams with 11 players on each side mainly on round or oval shaped grounds while concentrating to the rectangular 22-yard long pitch for two main events called bowling and batting. The objective of the game is to score runs while batting turns while the other team bowls and fields. Each of that turn is known as an inning. It is widely believed that in 1301, Prince Edward, the son of Edward I, played this game at Newenden, England. The game had developed to be the national sport of England by the end of the 18th century. It was being played abroad by the mid-19th century due to the expansion of the British Empire. A team of England cricketers went on the first overseas tour to North America in 1859. This sport is often referred as the “Gentleman’s game” for the sportsmanship of the cricketers.

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3. American Football

American football, often referred as Gridiron in various countries and football in the United States, is a sport played by two teams consisting eleven players each on a rectangular field with goalposts on each end. The dimension of a typical football ground is 120 yards long and 53.33 yards wide. Most points are scored by placing the ball into the opposing team’s goalpost which is called touchdown. It is the most popular sport in the United States where the most popular forms of the game are professional football and college football. The most famous American football league, NFL, has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world in its final match called the “Super Bowl”. NFL is also one of the richest leagues with around $10 billion of annual revenue. The first American football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869.

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4. Basketball

Basketball is a sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players on each side. The objective of the game is to place the ball in the hoop, a hollow bottom net of 18 inches diameter placed 10 feet above the ground at each end of the court. Two points are given to the shooting team if the players shoot the ball in the net ahead of the three-point line. It is illegal to carry the ball without dribbling, or resume the dribble while holding the ball with both hands. The game was invented by Dr. James Naismith, at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School, while creating a game to achieve maximum fitness in December 1891. The first balls specifically for basketball which were brown in color were developed by Tony Hinkle in the late 1950s. The first official game was played by two teams of nine players each in the YMCA gymnasium in Albany on January 20, 1892.

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5. Baseball

Baseball is a team game played between two teams of nine players each in turns of batting and fielding. The objective of the game is to hit the ball with a bat thrown by the pitcher. The scoring runs come by running counter-clockwise around a series of four bases after hitting the ball. When a player advances around the bases and returns to the home plate, a run is scored. Each baseball game is played in nine innings where two teams switch between batting and pitching whenever the fielding team makes three outs. This sport is believed to be derived from “la soule” which was described in a French manuscript from 1344. The early modern version of baseball was being played by the mid-18th century in England. Baseball was recognized as the national sport of the United States by the late 19th century.

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6. Tennis

Tennis is a sport that can be played using a racquet, individually against a single opponent called singles, or between two teams of two players on each side. The grounds are rectangular with distinctive markings, and the racquets are knitted with chord or string. The objective of the game is to strike a hollow felt-over rubber ball into the opponent’s court around the net. The modern version of this sport originated in Birmingham, England and by the late 19th century it was widely played as lawn tennis” which was a combination of lawn games mainly between bowls and croquet. According to the 1845 novel Sybil by Disraeli, Lord Eugene De Vere once stated that he would “go down to Hampton Court and play tennis.” Now, four major tournaments or the Grand Slams are hugely popular which are Australian Open, French Open and the US Open.

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7. Boxing

Boxing is a combat game between two players which was often called the sweet science and also the prize fighting in the past. The objective of this game is to throw punches for scoring a point against each other with gloved hands over a series of three-minute intervals called rounds. It is also included in two of the most popular event of the modern earth, the Olympic and the Commonwealth sports. It was recorded back as far as the 3rd millennium BC in a Sumerian relief and by the time of 688 BC, it was introduced in Olympic by the Greeks. The current version of this sport originated in Great Britain around 16th to 18th-century. The first bare-knuckle fight in England was documented in 1681 and in 1719 the first recorded bare-knuckle champion was James Figg in England. Three main styles used in modern boxing are fighter, brawler, and In-fighter.

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8. Golf

Golf is a club sport where competing players called golfers try to hit a ball into a series of holes on a course using the fewest strokes possible, with various bent sticks called the clubs or the golf bats. According to the modern Rules of Golf, the objective of the game is “playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules.” This sport does not require a standardized playing area and played in the courses with either nine or 18 holes arranged in progressive order. It is widely believed to be derived from the Roman game of paganica, where participants used to hit a stuffed leather ball with bent sticks. The current record of this game was first documented when James II banned this game in 1457 because it was a visual distraction while learning archery. The most popular event of this game is the PGA Tour.

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9. Hockey

Hockey is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players each in a rectangular hockey ground with a goal post on each end. The objective of this game is to maneuver a hockey ball called the Puck into the opponent’s goal using hockey sticks. The name of this game was first recorded in the book Juvenile Sports and Pastimes by Richard Johnson in 1773. But it was also widely believed that it was first recorded by King Edward III of England in 1363. A stone work belongs of 2000BC Egypt was also scripted with teams playing with sticks and a projectile. In 600 BC, this game was called kerētízein or kerhtízein by the Greeks. There are two main types of hockey, Field Hockey and Ice Hockey. Field hockey is played on natural grass with a hard ball approximately 73 mm in diameter, whereas, the ice hockey is played on a rectangular field of ice with a three-inch-diameter vulcanized rubber disc.

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10. Volleyball

Volleyball is a team game which is played between two teams of six players on a rectangular court separated by a net. The objective of the game is to hit the volleyball with hands over the net and score points by grounding the volleyball on the opponent’s court. The defending team can touch the ball up to 3 times, but individual participants of the same team cannot consecutively touch the ball twice. The typical size of the volleyball ground is 50 feet long and 25 feet wide, and the topmost end of the net should be placed 6 feet 6 inches above the ground. This game was introduced in the Summer Olympic Games in 1964. It was invented by YMCA director, William G. Morgan as an indoor game on February, 1895 and named Mintonette, which can be played by any number of players. This game also has various other types such as Beach volleyball, Buka ball and Footvolley.

Various other sports are also very popular throughout the world such as Table Tennis or Track and Field. An important fact is that, around 13,000 athletes participate in one of the biggest event of the earth, the Olympic, in 400 events of 33 different sports.