1.2.5 Twentieth-century Olympic stadia
In 1908 the games were held in London, where the White City stadium was built for the purpose, the architect being James Fulton. It was a functional building accommodating over 80000 spectators, had a steel frame, and was the first purpose- designed modern Olympic stadium. The arena was gigantic by the standards of today (Figure 1.4), accommodating a multitude of individual sports and surrounded by a cycle track. It was subsequently decided to reduce the number of Olympic sports, partly to give a smaller arena. In later years White City stadium became increasingly neglected and was finally demolished in the 1980s.