- Former host cities like Sarajevo, Athens, and Beijing have had venues to suffer the same fate.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .
ADVERTISEMENT
What abandoned Olympic venues from around the world look like today
The venues from the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics are already falling apart, and they're not the only ones.
2004 athens olympics venues 4
Hosting the Olympics can be an economic burden on a country, especially if the host nation has to build venues for the games.
Throughout Olympic history, we've seen that once the games are over, these venues often become abandoned, crumbling as they go unused.
Take a look at photos below of some past Olympic venues and villages, in cities like Rio de Janeiro, Pyeongchang, Beijing, Athens, and Sarajevo, and how they have become abandoned.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sam Belden and Emmett Knowlton contributed to this report.
In 2016, Rio de Janeiro hosted the first Olympic Games in Latin America in nearly 40 years.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Buda Mendes/Getty
In January 2020, a Brazilian judge ordered the closure of the venues in the Olympic park over safety concerns.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Lucas Dumphreys/AP Images
Source: BBC
As of 2017, debris from the demolished media center hadnt been cleaned up.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Mario Tama/Getty
Many Olympic sites are littered with rusty metal.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Mario Tama/Getty
Maracana Stadium, where the football tournament was held.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Mario Lobao/AP
The grass is almost completely dry.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Mario Lobao/AP
ADVERTISEMENT
Looters ransacked the stadium back in January, taking items like televisions, fire extinguishers and a statue.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Silvia Izquierdo/AP
Source: BBC
Aquatics facilities are also in disrepair.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Silvia Izquierdo/AP
The facilities have been stripped down and remain bare.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Buda Mendes/Getty
ADVERTISEMENT
Inside, the stadium is deserted. Puddles of stagnant water cover the floors, creating a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Buda Mendes/Getty
The facilitys exterior isnt much better. The city was supposed to tear down the aquatics stadium soon after the Olympics, but no progress has been made so far.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Buda Mendes/Getty
The Olympic golf course is mostly deserted. There are sometimes only three or four groups playing at a time.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Silvia Izquierdo/AP
Source: Golf.com
ADVERTISEMENT
The course cost around $20 million to build.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Silvia Izquierdo/AP
Source: Golf.com
Olympic signage continues to loom throughout the city.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Silvia Izquierdo/AP
A view of Rio from the mostly abandoned Olympic Park.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Buda Mendes/Getty
ADVERTISEMENT
Thousands of apartments in Rios Olympic Village were unoccupied after the games.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Renata Brito/AP
An abandoned water tank.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Mario Tama/Getty
Cleaning up Guanabara Bay was a big part of Rios successful bid to host the Games.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Silvia Izquierdo/AP
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: One of the sites for the 2016 Summer Olympics is completely filthy, and it's going to stay that way
Lying in Rios rubble are thousands of pamphlets from the Games scars of an Olympics that proved to be more than the city bargained for.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Mario Tama/Getty
Pyeongchang has also felt the impact of hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics. Many of the venues, like the site of the downhill skiing events below, have gone under-used since the games.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Yelim Lee/AFP/Getty Images
The inside of the speed-skating arena is now reportedly dark and ice-less.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT
The gondola lift terminal is now blocked off by barbed wire.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
There are arguments in South Korea about the future and upkeep of the venues, as many of the winter sports simply havent caught on in the region. Protest banners were hung on the fencing surrounding the Jeongseon Alpine Center.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
ADVERTISEMENT
One decade later, civil war broke out amid the breakup of what was the country of Yugoslavia.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Some of the Olympic venues were repurposed and used as military facilities.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Source: REUTERS
The bobsled facility was turned into an artillery stronghold during the war.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
ADVERTISEMENT
Source: REUTERS
The heavily graffitied course is sometimes used for BMX races.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
A dog walks past the Kosevo Stadium, where the opening ceremonies were held.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
And weeds grow over the walls of the Kosevo Stadium.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
ADVERTISEMENT
The abandoned ski jump at Mount Igman.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Seating is overrun with grass and weeds.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Another angle of the ski jump.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
The track itself is covered in debris.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
This is whats left of the figure skating facility, Zetra Hall.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
ADVERTISEMENT
Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and will host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
A sign from the area where the baseball stadium once stood.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
REUTERS/David Gray
A stray dog on a field that was once inside the baseball stadium.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
A makeshift broom in what was once an Olympic "green area."
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Tourists next to the rings in a former "green area" from the Olympics.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
ADVERTISEMENT
The parking lot for the cycling stadium is now used for driving tests.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Source: REUTERS
The BMX park has been overgrown and a car company now rents out the site.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Simon Song/South China Morning Post/Getty Images
A rusting sign from the kayaking facility.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
ADVERTISEMENT
A security guard with a flat tire from his bicycle at the kayaking venue.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Source: REUTERS
The three empty poles in the left of the shot once flew country flags of medal-winning Olympians.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Source: REUTERS
The BMX facility.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
REUTERS/David Gray
Many of their stadiums are shut out from the public, like the beach volleyball facility.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
A promotional banner for beach volleyball still stands.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Panels on the outside of the beach volleyball facility are falling off.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
ADVERTISEMENT
A boat sails past the stands and observation tower from the rowing facility.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Two mascots of the games now live in the woods...
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images
The polluted waters near the facility.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Athens went $15 billion over its budget to prepare for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis
Source: IMF
Greece shouldered the cost overruns, and many of the facilities have fallen into disuse.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
YouTube
Source: Bloomberg
The Olympic Village is abandoned.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT
The city planned to turn the Olympic Village into public housing.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Source: Telegraph
Thousands of families applied to live there, but the whole project fell through.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Source: Telegraph
Seating areas are overgrown with weeds.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis
And stairs and covered in rust.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
The canoe and kayak facility was the first in Olympic history to be filled with saltwater rather than freshwater.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis
Source: New York Times
Now its abandoned.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
And dry in patches.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/David Gray
Theres graffiti everywhere.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
AP
Beach volleyball practice courts are growing wild.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis
ADVERTISEMENT
The beach volleyball venue from a distance.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
The inside is just as bad,
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis
Like other venues, vegetation is taking over.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis
Weeds are everywhere.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis
A diving center is drained.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT
A pool at the Olympic Village is filthy.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
And polluted.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
Frogs have found homes, at least.
BusinessInsider USA Images
AP
The tracks are still used by some, but it doesnt mean theyre in good shape.
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis
The field hockey facility.
BusinessInsider USA Images
AP
ADVERTISEMENT
And an old podium.
BusinessInsider USA Images
REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
In Turin, where the 2006 Winter Olympics were held, the Olympic village isnt abandoned, but became housing for migrants and refugees.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Siegfried Modol/Reuters
Read more: The 2006 Turin Olympics athletes village is now home to over 1,000 African migrants and refugees
It wasnt planned for such. After a migration program ended, many migrants and refugees were left without a place to go, so they took over the abandoned apartments.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Siegfried Modola/Reuters
ADVERTISEMENT
Some spaces have been repurposed as classrooms where the occupants learn English and Italian.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Siegfried Modola/Reuters
However, some of the buildings appeared to be cleared by Italian police in July 2019.
BusinessInsider USA Images
ADVERTISEMENT
Stefano Guidi/Getty Images
As buildings were cleared by police, items were discarded into the surrounding areas.
BusinessInsider USA Images
Stefano Guidi/Getty Images
The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo are being threatened by the coronavirus. See what else in the sports world has been impacted by the virus...
ADVERTISEMENT
BusinessInsider USA Images
Getty Images
The coronavirus is starting to impact the sports world here are the major events that have been affected or canceled >
See Also:
JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!
ADVERTISEMENT
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng
ADVERTISEMENT