Sydney’s Marathon Medal Shows the Allianz Arena, Not the Allianz Stadium

The finisher medal for the Sydney Marathon on Aug. 30 carries a relief of the city skyline on its reverse, and one of the buildings on it stands in Munich.

The building is Allianz Arena. Sydney has a ground of almost the same name, Allianz Stadium at Moore Park, and the marathon route goes by it, as first reported by the BBC and 7NEWS.

The Stadium the Course Passes

Greater Sydney Parklands manages Moore Park and Centennial Park for the New South Wales government, and says Driver Avenue and Anzac Parade close from 5 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on race day, with a spectator zone on the Driver Avenue forecourt opposite the Sydney Cricket Ground. Allianz Stadium fronts Driver Avenue. The race’s own course page does not name the stadium, listing the Harbour Bridge crossing, a loop of Centennial Park, Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair and the Opera House finish.

Allianz has its name on seven stadiums in seven countries, according to the company: the arena in Munich, Allianz Stadion in Vienna, Allianz Riviera in Nice, Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minn., and three separate grounds called Allianz Stadium, in Sydney, Turin and Twickenham in London.

The two on the medal have little in common beyond that. Munich’s opened in 2005 to a design by Herzog & de Meuron, and its skin is built from 2,874 inflated plastic panels covering 66,500 square meters, which the stadium describes as the largest membrane structure in the world. Sydney’s opened in August 2022, seats 42,500 and is clad in 980 bronze-colored panels that Infrastructure NSW says would run more than 1.7 kilometers, just over a mile, if laid end to end.

The race unveiled the design on its Instagram account. “The markings around the edge represent each kilometre of the course, while the eight circles on the back represent the World Marathon Majors. A beautiful Sydney skyline brings the course to life, featuring the landmarks runners will experience along the way — starting with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and finishing at the world-famous Sydney Opera House,” the account said.

James Dunn, who posts running content as morningcoffeerun to more than 50,000 followers, named the arena in a video posted under the caption “Sydney Marathon major mess up.” “Because someone Google searched the wrong thing and got the Allianz Arena rather than the Allianz Stadium, which is in Sydney. Oh dear,” he said.

The obverse is a gold and indigo design by the First Nations artist Ambrose Killian. Killian told the BBC that the artwork on the reverse was not his.

The eight circles on the same face refer to the World Marathon Majors, which reached eight on June 10, when the Cape Town Marathon joined after the series had reached seven with Sydney in 2025. Cape Town holds its first edition as a Major on May 23, 2027. The Shanghai Marathon faces the second stage of its candidacy at its Dec. 6 race, and a ninth Major would bring a Nine Star medal.

The Great North Run Precedent

The Great North Run got a city wrong in 2025. Its medals and shirts showed Sunderland and the River Wear; the race is run in Newcastle, Gateshead and South Shields, on the Tyne, about 12 miles away. The Great Run Company apologized, saying “lots of people looked very closely at the designs and none of us picked it up.” About 60,000 runners finished that race.

Neither the BBC nor 7NEWS reported a response from the race, and both said they had asked for one. The Aug. 30 race starts on Miller Street in North Sydney and finishes at the Opera House 26.2 miles later. Organizers accepted about 40,000 entries this year, from a record ballot the race says drew 123,000 applications. Finishers collect the medal at the Opera House.