Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - Three Olympics, One Stadium
Photo: MikeJiroch, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
A stop on USC Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.
Across Exposition Park rises the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, opened in 1923 as a memorial to the city's World War I veterans. It was designed by John and Donald Parkinson, the same father and son behind much of the USC campus, and USC has played its home football games here ever since.
The Coliseum hosted the Olympic Games in 1932 and again in 1984, when decathlon champion Rafer Johnson climbed to the top of the peristyle, the great arched wall at this end, and lit the cauldron. In 2028 it will share the opening ceremony with SoFi Stadium and host the closing ceremony, making it the first stadium to serve three Olympic Games.
It also hosted the first Super Bowl in 1967 and was home to the Dodgers from 1958 to 1961.
In front of you is the Olympic Gateway, made by sculptor Robert Graham for 1984. Its two headless bronze torsos were modeled on water polo player Terry Schroeder and long jumper Jennifer Innis. Look past them to the cauldron above the arches.
Getting here: Leave campus by the south gate at Exposition Boulevard, cross at the light, and walk south through Exposition Park about six minutes to the Olympic Gateway in front of the peristyle.
Did you know?: Rafer Johnson, who lit the 1984 Olympic flame here, starred in college for USC's crosstown rival, UCLA.
Photo op: Stand back from the Olympic Gateway so the two bronze torsos frame the peristyle arches and the Olympic cauldron behind them.
More on Wikipedia: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum · 1984 Summer Olympics · 2028 Summer Olympics · Rafer Johnson
Stops on this tour
- Tommy Trojan - The Warrior at the Heart of Campus
- Bovard Auditorium - Where Film School Began
- School of Cinematic Arts - The House That Lucas Helped Build
- USC Village - Hecuba Meets Tommy
- Leavey Library - Built for the Digital Age
- Widney Alumni House - Where USC Began in 1880
- Doheny Library - A Grieving Family's Gift
- Alumni Park - The Campus Living Room
- Hahn Plaza - Rally Central
- Mudd Hall of Philosophy - A Monastery for Thinkers
- Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - Three Olympics, One Stadium
- Exposition Park Rose Garden - From Racetrack to Roses