Birkebeineren Ski Stadium

Birkebeineren Ski Stadium is a cross-country skiing and biathlon venue located in Lillehammer, Norway. Situated 3 kilometers from the town center and at 485 meters above mean sea level, it has two stadium areas, one for cross-country and one for biathlon. The former has a capacity for 31,000 spectators, and the latter for 13,500. The venue was built for the 1994 Winter Olympics, costing 83.6 million Norwegian krone . It was subsequently used by the 1994 Winter Paralympics for Paralympic Nordic skiing and Paralympic biathlon. After the games, ownership was transferred to the municipal Lillehammer Olympiapark. The venue has since been used for one Biathlon World Cup, three FIS Cross-Country World Cup and nine FIS Nordic Combined World Cup tournaments, the latter with the ski jumping competition taking place at the nearby Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena. Birkebeineren is scheduled to host the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

The location of the venue was decided in January 1990, following Lillehammer's successful bid to host the 1994 Winter Olympics. Construction was managed by the Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee . Architects were 2Ø Arkitekter and the main consultant was Tonning & Lieng. Construction started in early 1991, before planning was completed, and lasted until 1993. The construction work was subcontracted to several companies. Landscaping was completed in 1994. The facilities used concrete and wood as the main materials. The stadium included 3,000-square-meter of temporary buildings, a 1,620-square-meter building converted to a riding center after the Olympics, and a 3,200-square-meter tent. The land around the venue is a swamp, and most of the surface soil had to be removed and replaced with harder earth. The soil was used as fertilizer or fill in other parts of the arena. A creek had to be bypassed with a 220 meters long pipe. The arena is also so flat that a drainage system had to be installed. After the Olympics, four temporary overpasses were removed. Construction of the tracks was done to minimize the impact on the forest.

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