The Olympic Velodrome building - dubbed "the Pringle" - will take on the Royal Shakespeare Company's new theatre complex as they compete for the UK's top architecture award.
They are among six structures on the shortlist for the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) Stirling Prize 2011. Also up for the £20,000 award are a school and an office block in London, a cultural centre in Londonderry and a British-designed German museum.
Among the design greats on the list is last year's winner Zaha Hadid, who is chosen for her work on the Evelyn Grace Academy in Herne Hill, London. She won in 2010 for Rome's Maxxi Museum.
The Stirling is awarded to the best new building in the UK and Europe by a British architect.
The 6,000 capacity Velodrome - which was completed in January - has been seen as one of the architectural gems at the Olympic site in east London, with its 250-metre Siberian pine track and red cedar cladding. William Hill has ranked it the 2/1 favourite to take the prize.
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon has been completely rebuilt behind the original 1920s facade, to feature a stage more fitting of the Bard's day.
Also on the list is Derry's An Gaelaras, a centre to promote the use and enjoyment of the Irish language. Angel House in Islington and the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany, complete the list.
Each of the six design practices have previously featured on shortlists for the award, which is now in its 16th year.
Riba president Ruth Reed said: "The Riba Stirling Prize celebrates architectural excellence and this year we have another outstanding collection of culturally significant buildings on the shortlist - projects that have each made a significant contribution to the evolution of architecture."
The winner will be announced on Saturday October 1 at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham. It will be broadcast in an edition of BBC2's The Culture Show, hosted by Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud the following day.
