Olympic Hall Juan Antonio Samaranch (Old name Olympic Hall Zetra), also known as Zetra Ice Stadium and Zetra Arena, is an indoor multi-purpose arena

Arena

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...

 in Sarajevo

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

. Named in honour of Juan Antonio Samaranch

Juan Antonio Samaranch

Don Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquis of Samaranch, Grandee of Spain , known in Catalan as Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló , was a Catalan Spanish sports administrator who served as the seventh President of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001...

 in 2010 after his passing, it was used for various sporting events at the 1984 Winter Olympics

1984 Winter Olympics

The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...

.

Olympic venue

Olympic Hall Zetra was constructed specifically for the 1984 Winter Olympics, hosted in Sarajevo, and was completed in 1983. Its first major event was the 1983 World Junior Speed Skating Championships

World Junior Speed Skating Championships

||valign=top width=50%|In 1971, when the ISU had a congress they decided to hold a World Junior Speed Skating Championships. After 2 test-championships , where only boys where allowed to skate, the first official championship was introduced in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In this championship boys and girls...

. It was described as an "ultramodern, angular edifice" with a copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 roof. The indoor venue hosted ice hockey

Ice hockey at the 1984 Winter Olympics

At the 1984 Winter Olympics held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, one ice hockey event was held: men's ice hockey. Most of the games were held at the Olympic Hall Zetra and some of the games in Skenderija II olympic hall.-Medalists:Source:* Gold -...

 and figure skating

Figure skating at the 1984 Winter Olympics

-Medal table:-Men:Referee:* Donald H. GilchristAssistant Referee:* Tjasa AndréeJudges: Vladimir Amsel Gerhard Frey Monique Georgelin Ida Tateoka Ingrid Linke Björn Elwin Tatiana Danilenko Oskar Urban Margaret Berezowski Tsukasa Kimura -Ladies:Katarina Witt became the first lady to repeat as...

 events, as well as the last closing ceremony held in an indoor place until Vancouver 2010.

From 1984 to 1991, Zetra remained in service as a venue for ice sports. It served as the venue for several international speed skating events, and several speed skating world records were broken here.

Destruction

The arena suffered substantial damage and was almost completely destroyed by shelling, bombing and fire by the Bosnian Serb forces on Monday, May 25, 1992 during the Bosnian War

Bosnian War

The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...

. The remaining areas of the structure, such as the basements, were put into service as a morgue

Morgue

A morgue or mortuary is used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification, or removal for autopsy or disposal by burial, cremation or otherwise...

 and as storage space for medication and supplies. The wooden seats from the venue were used as material for coffin

Coffin

A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...

s for civilians killed in the war.

Reconstruction

After the war, it was discovered that though the building was badly damaged, the foundation was secure. In September 1997, reconstruction on the venue, facilitated by the SFOR

SFOR

The Stabilisation Force was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina which was tasked with upholding the Dayton Agreement. It replaced the previous force IFOR...

, began. The International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

 donated $US 11.5 million to the project, which cost an estimated DM 32 million (€

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

16.4 million). The reconstruction was completed in 1999.

Current use

Zetra hosted the Balkans Stability Pact Summit in July 1999. It is currently in service as a sporting arena. The hall also contains a small museum about the 1984 Winter Olympics.