Olympic Stadiums and Cultural Heritage: On the Nature and Status of Heritage Values in Large Sport Facilities

This paper investigates Olympic stadium heritage values and their cultural significance. It outlines the main challenges in stadium conservation through the interplay between bequest and use values. A value analysis of listed Olympic stadiums reveals that these are characterized by a specific heritage profile, related to the uniqueness and singularity of the buildings, of the landscape and of the sporting event. The history of architecture and sport are clearly interwoven in these places, as Olympic stadiums appear as testimonies of the evolution of sport and its status for past and present societies. Such an interpretation of Olympic stadium heritage could allow a better Olympic and sporting heritage evaluation and conservation, especially if the ensemble of existing Olympic stadiums was considered as a World Heritage network.