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Wednesday, August 10, 2016

What abandoned Olympic venues from around the world look like today

Cities around the world arestarting to question if hosting the Olympics is worth it.

Most cities simply do not have the infrastructure required to withstand the two-week influx of athletes, coaches, fans, and media members. The money required tobuild state-of-the-art athletic facilities is skyrocketing, andacademic research suggestsspending billions on a two-week event is not a wise investment.

In the worst-case scenario for host cities, Olympic venues go unused after the games and become white elephants — total wastes of space and money. We've seen this at a number of different Olympic sites around the world. Of course, the reasons this happens are specific to each country: Sarajevo, for example, suffered from a gruesome war that caused the 1984 Winter Olympic venues to crumble. Nevertheless, these photos from Reuters, Getty Images, and others have become symbolic of the downside of hosting the Olympics.

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Rio is going to look worse than any of these.

Anonymous said...

This debate has been "raging" for decades. The games bring a lot of hoopla before and during, but what's left is all on the host city and nation, which is usually a White Elephant.

Anonymous said...

No "White Elephant" at Munich. It is a cultural icon for the city and a boon to tourism and local / national events. It continues to be a draw for both Munich and Germany. Many events are held there every year.

Anonymous said...

All Olympics should be held in Greece period.

Anonymous said...

U know 12:09 in Greece they separate the men from the boys with a crowbar.