Lillehammer Olympiapark
The Lillehammer Olympiapark consists of five Olympic venues from the 1994 Games: Birkebeineren Ski and Biathlon Stadium, Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena, Håkons Hall, the Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track and the Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena.
By 2020, all the venues in the Lillehammer Olympiapark had been certified with Norway’s most widely used environmental management system, called the Eco-Lighthouse. This recognition shows that they remain at the forefront of sustainability efforts and operate in an environmentally friendly way.
In 2020, the venues are still run by the not-for-profit organisation, Lillehammer Olympiapark AS, with 70 per cent of revenues still coming from sporting and commercial activities, the remaining 30 per cent being subsidised by the public authorities.
The Birkebeineren Ski Stadium hosted cross-country skiing and biathlon at the 1994 Games, and its 27km of tracks for cross-country and 9km for biathlon remain in extensive use. They have hosted several editions of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup, Biathlon World Cup and Nordic Combined World Cup. During the summer, they are popular for walking, mountain biking, roller skating and roller-skiing.
Lysgårdsbakkene Ski Jumping Arena, which has both a large and a small hill, was built to strict sustainability requirements. It was modernised in 2007 with plastic decks, which allow the athletes to train in the summer even when there is no snow, and increase the use of the venue. Today, it is one of three national ski jumping training centres in Norway, and has been the venue for several international competitions, including the FIS Ski Jump World Cup and Raw Air, an extreme sports event organised by the Norwegian Ski Federation. Around 100,000 jumps are made on it every year, and it has won an award from the National Association of Norwegian Architects.
Håkons Hall, which staged ice hockey in 1994, remains one of Norway’s largest sports arenas, with a seating capacity of 12,500. It remains a multi-purpose site for sport, recreation and culture. As well as being used for ice hockey, it can be converted into two handball or futsal courts, six volleyball courts or eight badminton courts. It also includes an indoor golf centre with two golf simulators, and a fitness centre.
It has hosted matches in the men’s 1999 Ice Hockey World Championships, the men’s European 2008 Handball Championship, the 2018 World Logging Championships and numerous shows by singers and comedians. Other activities such as squash, bowling and rifle shooting have been hosted there, and Håkons Hall is also used as a training and conference centre.
The Lillehammer Olympic Bobsleigh and Luge Track, in Hunderfossen, remains the only bobsleigh and luge track in Scandinavia. It has attracted major international competitions such as the FIL World Luge Championships 1995, and offers many sliding activities for visitors year-round, such as bob-raft, taxibob (a bobsled driven by a professional) and skeleton in the winter, and wheelbob in the summer.
A new curling venue and a new student housing complex were built in the Lillehammer Olympiapark in the years leading up to the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games. Today, both of these are fully used on a daily basis, and have helped to make the Lillehammer Olympiapark an even stronger sports and educational hub for the region.