35 eerie pictures that show what happens to Olympic venues after the games end
James Grebey,Gabbi Shaw
- The 2020 Summer Olympics will begin on July 23, 2021, in Tokyo.
- Sometimes cities are able to successfully repurpose parts of their Olympic set-ups, like in Montreal.
- But oftentimes these giant investments are torn down or abandoned - like in these photos.
There are still remnants of the 1936 Berlin Games, almost 90 years later.
This used to be a swim hall.
The Olympic Village still stands, almost untouched.
"A German real estate developer called Terraplan is constructing and renovating buildings on a large portion of the former Olympic Village site in what local authorities are hoping is the first phase of investor commitment to developing the entire site," according to Getty.
The 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, took place less than a decade before the Bosnian War.
Yugoslavia has now been split into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Slovenia.
The city was under siege, and though it's largely recovered in the years since it ended, many Olympic sites, like this ski jump, have been left to the elements.
Sarajevo itself falls within Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Kosovo Stadium, where the opening ceremony was held, belongs to the dogs now.
Technically, though, FK Sarajevo leases the stadium as of April 2021.
The bobsled course on Mount Trebević is totally overgrown and covered in graffiti.
However, the city repaired the cable car, making it a tourist destination once again.
Occasionally it gets used by brave BMX bikers.
They're definitely brave.
The 1996 Summer Olympics were held in Atlanta. After the games, they demolished the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, where the Braves had played since 1966.
The team moved to the newly built Centennial Olympic Stadium, which is now known as Turner Field.
Centennial Olympic Park, the site of the infamous bombing that marred the '96 games, is still in use today.
The movie "Richard Jewell" deals with the aftermath.
The Fountain of Rings is a popular place for people to cool down and splash around.
Pictured here.
Athens went almost $15 billion over its planned budget of $1.6 billion for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
The Greek government had to pay for everything, and, sadly, there just wasn't any use for most of the buildings, stadiums, and courses after the games.
The pool is full of fetid water and starting to fall apart.
The pool is crumbling.
These huge, abandoned investments must've been especially painful in light of Greece's financial crisis.
A practice pool at the Aquatic Center has been drained.
Understandably, the money wasn't going towards renovating abandoned buildings.
"Welcome home."
Nobody is playing baseball in Athens.
A worker told the London Evening Standard in 2012 that it's not technically abandoned, it's just that nobody ever plays softball.
The beach volleyball court is being consumed by weeds.
Sad.
The Beijing National Stadium, built for the 2008 Summer Olympics, often has a hard time finding events that come close to filling its 80,000 seats.
However, it will be used again for the 2022 Olympics.
The kayaking facility isn't getting much use.
It's rusted.
The rowing facility is largely ignored.
Many venues, like the beach volleyball court, are simply closed to the public.
Closed.
Half of the Beijing National Aquatics Center was eventually remodeled and turned into a water park.
It reopened in 2010.
Here's an abandoned Beibei, one of the Olympic mascots of Beijing.
Beijing will reuse the National Stadium for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which they're hosting.
It will be the first stadium to host both Summer and Winter Olympics and Paralympics opening ceremonies.
London hosted the Summer Olympics back in 2012.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was fully opened to the public in 2014 after many renovations. The rings are one of the few visual cues reminding visitors about the park's origins.
The park and surrounding buildings have helped rejuvenate the city's East End.
A new neighborhood called International Quarter London sprung up next to it.
The Olympic village, where the athletes stayed, has been turned into apartments.
It's called East Village.
The Olympic Stadium was renovated, and became the new home of the West Ham United Football Club in 2016.
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox have played there, too.
The 2014 Winter Olympics were hold in Russia's largest resort city, Sochi.
They were the most expensive games in history, costing the Russian government $50 billion.
The Fisht Stadium was originally a dome, but was converted to an open-air stadium for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Sochi was just one of many cities to host games during the World Cup.
But the rest of the structures have barely been touched, like these ski jumps in Estosadok.
There's not a person to be seen.
The last Summer Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the summer of 2016. In five years, venues like this aquatics stadium have become a ghost town.
Hopefully this year's facilties in Tokyo have better luck.
Maracanã Stadium was renovated for the Olympics, but has been largely been abandoned.
This year's Copa América finals will be held there.
Vandals stole seats and TVs.
Some of it has since been restored.
Parts of the Olympic complex have become a health hazard after destruction, like the Rio Media Center.
Seen here in November 2016.
The site remained untouched for months - six months after the closing ceremony, trash from the Games was still visible.
Also in November 2016.
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