The Olympics are held every 2 years, switching back and fourth between summer and winter games.  It’s an honor to host the Olympic games, and typically provides a large economic boost to the nation that hosts the event.  However, once the games are over, the large buildings and structures that are created for the Olympics are usually never used again and fall into a state of abandonment and disrepair.  These are some eerie examples of abandoned Olympic venues and how they look today.

Athens 2004

These venues have been left to “rot” mostly due to the economic crisis Greece has been facing in the recent years.

Beijing 2008

The Chinese government has failed to maintain these once spectacular venues, which allegedly cost $44 billion to build.

Berlin 1936

It’s interesting to note that Germany was under the Nazi regime during that year’s Summer Games.

Turin 2006

The then Olympic village now serves as an asylum to more than a thousand refugees.

Saravejo 1984

A majority of the venues during the 1984 Winter Games were destroyed during the Bosnian war (1992-1995).

Munich 1972

Unfortunately, that year’s Olympics was marred by the infamous “Munich Massacre”. A Group of Palestinian terrorists who called themselves “Black September” held hostage and killed 11 Israeli delegates.

Atlanta 1996

In 1997, only a few months after the Olympic games were held, a part of the infamous Fulton County Stadium was blasted to make way for parking spaces.

Rio 2016

Unresolved disputes between stadium operators, cost overruns, unpaid electricity bills, corruption, and a debt amounting to a staggering $35-$40 million were what caused the shut-down of the Olympic venues in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some of these had even been looted by thieves and smashed up by vandals!

Sapporo 1972

Moscow 1980

Cortina D’ampezzo 1956