Abandoned Olympics Sites Cast Dark Shadow On The Games

*AbandonedOlympicsBeijingkanyak venue

It’s almost unfathomable that after all the commotion and emotions packed into the Olympics have gone by the wayside, only an architectural echo of the games will remain. Given the competition, costs and sacrifices made to host the centuries-old athletic ritual in one’s city, it’s difficult to look at these dilapidated former Olympic villages without questioning the motives of Olympics hosts—and for that matter, the event’s message.

                          *Abandoned Athens Olympics rings         

              

                                      

These images are a reminder of how fleeting the excitement of the Olympics is, as well as the controversy some former hosts have since endured. Even in the span of six short years, the structures created for the 2008 Beijing Olympics resemble a ghost town more than they do a $40 billion village built to house and honor the world’s most promising athletes. 

The 2004 Olympics held in Athens, Greece cost $15 billion  compared to Beijing’s price tag) and has fared a bit better than most, considering that some of the buildings have found new tenants and are again being used. Unfortunately, the aquatics center, softball and beach volleyball arenas, along with the Helliniko Olympic complex are all in desperate need of repair or condemnation.

Perhaps the saddest of all is Sarajevo, whose war-torn façade includes the 1984 Olympic bobsleigh track, which was reported to have been used as an artillery stronghold during the Bosnian War nearly a decade later. Several photographers have done spreads on this particular village; it remains a grim relic of the violence endured in the surrounding areas.
Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/abandoned-olympics-sites#F3b0OOOQpqigMAzi.99

*AbandonedOlympicsBeijingchangingroom

*AbandonedOlympicsSarayevobobsleightrack

                                                                                    

*AbandonedOlympicsAthenssatadium

 

 

                                                                                                                                                   

             

**AbandonedOlympicsBeijingbeachvolleyball

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                        

It’s almost unfathomable that after all the commotion and emotions packed into the Olympics have gone by the wayside, only an architectural echo of the games will remain. Given the competition, costs and sacrifices made to host the centuries-old athletic ritual in one’s city, it’s difficult to look at these dilapidated former Olympic villages without questioning the motives of Olympics hosts—and for that matter, the event’s message.
These images are a reminder of how fleeting the excitement of the Olympics is, as well as the controversy some former hosts have since endured. Even in the span of six short years, the structures created for the 2008 Beijing Olympics resemble a ghost town more than they do a $40 billion village built to house and honor the world’s most promising athletes.

Read more at http://all-that-is-interesting.com/abandoned-olympics-sites#F3b0OOOQpqigMAzi.99