Jordal Amfi (1951)

Jordal Amfi

Jordal Amfi in 2016
Location	Jordal, Oslo, Norway
Coordinates	59°54′40.42″N 10°47′2.19″E / 59.9112278°N 10.7839417°E / 59.9112278; 10.7839417Coordinates: 59°54′40.42″N 10°47′2.19″E / 59.9112278°N 10.7839417°E / 59.9112278; 10.7839417
Owner	Oslo Municipality
Executive suites	9
Capacity	10,000 (1951-71) 4,459 (1971-2017)
Record attendance	10,000
Surface	Artificial ice
Construction
Broke ground	August 1950
Opened	12 December 1951
Renovated	1971 (roof), 1999
Closed	15 January 2017
Demolished	2017
Construction cost	NOK 4 million
Architect	Frode Rinnan and Olav Tveten
Tenants
Vålerenga Ishockey (-1990, 1993-2017)

Jordal Amfi was an indoor ice hockey rink in Oslo, Norway, the first bearing that name. The venue opened in 1951 to host the 1952 Winter Olympics. Jordal was also the site of the 1958 and the 1999 IIHF World Championship. It would in the following decades also serve several boxing matches and concerts.

Jordal Amfi was historically significant for Norwegian hockey and was home to 26 national championships of the GET-ligaen side Vålerenga Ishockey. It also hosted the Norway national ice hockey team. The arena's design by Frode Rinnan and Olav Tveten was characterized by its asymmetrical shape, giving steep and tall stands on the one end and low stands on the other. In 2017, the arena was closed down to be replaced by a new one.

When Oslo was awarded the Winter Olympics in 1947, there were no suitable venues to host Olympic ice hockey, as there were no arenas with artificial ice and all ice rinks were part of multi-sports venues. The organizing committee applied for exemption to allow them to use multi-sport venues, but the motion was dismissed. The controversies surrounding ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics, in which two teams arrived in St. Moritz to compete for the United States at the 1948 Winter Olympics, nearly caused the International Olympic Committee to terminate the 1952 competition. However, it was reinstated in 1951.