From their revival at the end of the 19th century at the instigation of Pierre de Coubertin, the modern Olympics have progressively developed to meet the needs of various sports and the expectations of spectators. However, what has changed little is the central position of the Olympic stadium. Throughout the 20th century, stadiums have become landmarks in Olympic history and a focus for national pride and representation. Their design and development reflects improvements in sporting achievements and in technical competence. And they set a clear legacy which has a double dimension: on the one hand, stadiums supply a material legacy in terms of infrastructure; on the other hand, they create an image for both the Olympic movement and the hosting city.

The aim of this chapter is to examine the concept of the Olympic stadium in the first half of the 20th century (see Wimmer 1976; Schmidt 1986a; 1986b; 1988) and in particular to see how successive Games built on previous experiences of stadium design as part of a perpetual and always evolving legacy. The use of the word ‘legacy’ has become fashionable in the Olympic movement's discourses: adoption of the term ‘Olympic legacy’ makes clear the shift from being a ‘peace movement’ to a ‘brand’ (MacAloon 2008, 2061). For academic purposes, ‘legacy’ embraces the effects of all previous Olympic Games in terms of facilities, memory, philosophy and image.