Francis Olympic Field

Francis Field
Location	St. Louis, Missouri
Public transit	MetroBus; Blue ; At University City-Big Bend
Owner	Washington University in St. Louis
Operator	Washington University in St. Louis
Capacity	3,300; 19,000 (previous)
Surface	IronTurf
Construction
Broke ground	1902
Opened	1904
Architect	Cope and Stewardson
Tenants
	Washington University Bears (NCAA) (1905–present); St. Louis Stars (NASL) (1975–77)
Website
	bearsports.wustl.edu/facilities/francis-olympic-field

Francis Olympic Field is a stadium at Washington University in St. Louis that was used as the main venue for the 1904 Summer Olympics. It is currently used by the university's track and field, cross country, football, and soccer teams. It is located in St. Louis County, Missouri on the far western edge of the university's Danforth Campus. Built in time for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 St. Louis World's Fair), the stadium once had a 19,000-person seating capacity, but stadium renovations in 1984 reduced the capacity to 3,300 people. It is one of the oldest sports venues west of the Mississippi River that is still in use. Francis Olympic Field now uses artificial turf that can be configured for both soccer and football.

Known at its opening as World's Fair Stadium and then as Washington University Stadium or simply "the Stadium", the venue was renamed as Francis Field in October 1907 for David R. Francis, a former Missouri governor and president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.^[1] The word "Olympic" was added in 2019 to reflect its role in the 1904 Summer Olympics.^[2]^[3]

^ "Washington Stadium Is Now Called Francis Field". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. October 27, 1907. p. 11, part three. Retrieved January 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Francis Olympic Field". washubears.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
^ "Francis Field getting 'Olympic' with its name". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 19, 2019. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.

[1] "Washington Stadium Is Now Called Francis Field". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. October 27, 1907. p. 11, part three. Retrieved January 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

[2] "Francis Olympic Field". washubears.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.

[3] "Francis Field getting 'Olympic' with its name". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. September 19, 2019. Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.

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