I find Rio the most shocking. They only hosted the Olympics 6 years ago, but the venues have gone to ruin very quickly. Even some of Sarajevo’s venues look better, and they hosted the Winter Olympics 38 years ago AND the city was caught up in the war when Yugoslavia split up in the early 90s, but some parts still look better than Rio’s facilities.
*Actually the City of Rio de Janeiro was not prepared to host the Olympic Games back then, and they use the event itself to mask the reality that Brazil was envolved in complete mess. When the game was over and all politics envolved on business got profit from this event, they just abandoned these venues because they would not get more money from it. In other words, Brazilian politics just use this event to get profit.*
the video has old photos, because the olympic swimming pool is in the city of Salvador being used and most of the tennis arenas were temporary there are none more in the place, so the video does not correspond to reality
Really sucks that so much money is spent on these Olympics just for the venues afterward to be wasted. Places should really submit a post-Olympic plan when submitting bids to confirm the viability of a location for continuing summer and winter sports after its usage. Rio is certainly an example of this, just put the country of Brazil into a further economic disaster leading up to the games just for a lot of the venues to be completely abandoned
@@bluegold1026 That's usually not possible. Because each sport has different specifications it's really hard to account for everything. i.e where is the seated beach volleyball court in LA?
@@brodypearlman6034 Au contraire. Beach volleyball for London 2012 took place at the Horse Guards Parade. For LA 2028, aquatics will take place at a temporary site on top of a college baseball stadium. In fact, all of LA 2028's venues are either existing, temporary or were going to be built regardless. This is the way to go! It would also help to make some sports to be put on an optional list so cities can pick and choose what is best for them.
8:21 Brazilian here, about the Aquatic Stadium and Arena do Futuro were temporary venues, build under the principle of nomadic architecture, meaning they were build to be disassembled later, by 2022 there is no more physical buildings, the structure was donated to other cities to build sports centers and schools.
No intente justificar eso, BRAZIL fracaso en esos edificios, Sarajevo si tiene una excusa, Rio no tiene perdon elloa arruinaron la gestion de esos sedes
Your efforts are wasted here. People here have no idea how to distinguish between buildings that were planned as temporary pavilions and those which were abandoned. Are they dumb? Probably yes. Are they worth your time? Probably not.
To me the most heartbreaking of the abandoned venues has to be Sarajevo because you can see what impact potentially the Yugoslav war had on the venues.
The International Olympic Committee should be held accountable for the post games plans for these sites. Either remove the structures & return the areas to the original state prior to building or have plans in place for ongoing usage, not just walk away and leave them to fall down. How much devastation was caused to the environment when it was decided to put up these events.
What happened to the baseball and softball venues at the 2004 Olympics in Athens is part of why they were stopped being included in the Games in London 2012 (unless the host country is a baseball/softball country). For Sydney 2000, the Aussies found use for their baseball venue for the popular Australian Football League and a cricket league. For Beijing 2008, the field was temporary. In the case of the Greeks, a football club Ethnikos Piraeus did move into the baseball stadium for a bit three years after the Games, but that only lasted seven years. So now the Hellinikon Complex (which is also home to the field hockey and canoe slalom venues at 5:24 and in the thumbnail respectively) is rotting away, housing refugees. And it's pretty clear from Google Maps that the complex was built on an abandoned airport (the airport was closed to build the bigger Athens International). Literally one of the paths to the venues was once a runway. So ironically, both the international airport that was closed for the Games and now the sports complex that replaced it, are both abandoned until the Hellenikon Metropolitan Park is done
Everybody in Brazil knew this will happen, only the mainstream media was talking about legacy, the people knew it they will abandoned the venues like they did
They renovate the jump (tower) as an landmark and use the stadium beneath for other events (like football / soccer), but the profile of this ski jump is outdated (since 1990). Also they move the competitions to Val die Fiemme / Predazzo. The jumps there are in a good shape, as they are used for national championships, NC World Cups, Continental Cups and World Cup. Last time in Jan 2020. The "Italia" is an icon (First WC-Competition ever in 1979), but since the profile is not up-to-date and the Italian federation isn't the richest, its unlikely that this jump will host any competition. I hope, that some of the historic hills will return (e.g. St. Moritz (also an olympic hill (1928 and 1948) or even newer ones like Whistler (2010) to the calender, but its very unlikely.)) It would be great if they would restore the hill and held an competition in 2029 / 2030 (50th World Cup season), but i think this will stay as a dream. The last Olympics, whose ski jump is still active and frequently used (international!) is Lillehammer 1994 and its hills are used every season. Courchevel (Albertville 1992) and Hakuba (Nagano 1998) are also used, but more often in summer. All olympic hills after 1998 are only used for national competions or even closed / demolished (Torino 2006 - hills in Pragelato). The bobsled tracks are another story, because the season is shorter and there are only some active. The chance for reactivation in Cortina and its use in future is higher.
Yup. The speed skating oval and the bobsled/luge track are regular stops on the world cup circuits for those sports and will again be used when Salt Lake hosts again in 2034.
@@JD-wn3ccsydneys olympic park is amazing and I loved the ring walk but when I visited I was the only one and it felt a eerie. London felt so different. I was staying at Stratford for the ABBA show and it really felt vibrant and lively, completly different experience than in sydney (yet sydney is the better city over all 😅)
London nailed it, the ideas were copied from the Manchester 2000 Olympic bid that resulted in the successful hosting of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The City of Manchester Stadium was designed from the start to become Man City’s ground, the aquatics centre has just gone under massive renovation recently after 20 years of public use and the velodrome has been the base of UK cycling and is widely regarded as the reason for continued success in track cycling
The pool of Athens 2004 made me remember the girl I was in love with at that time. I have a flash of a summer afternoon we were on the sofa watching a swimming race. Memories are forever, and how bittersweet is life❤
These really are heartbreaking. They spend millions getting ready to host the Olympics with these beautiful buildings and then just leave them to deteriorate. So many memories were made at these places and could have been used for another purpose. It's like humans didn't exist in the current pictures.
To be honest , nfl , nba and nbl make a whole lot more than the Olympics and they use their stadium multiple times a year For the Olympic stadium is only for onlympics athletes only and they make most of their money from being viewed on tv , 4 years later they build a new Olympic stadium in a different country
The economic recession and Euro crisis are responsible for that. Yes. It's a great shame. But some could still be fixed up, if the proper investment and long-term planning is made.
Given the rapid fire way Olympic facilities are constructed, and the intentionally temporary nature of many of them, it's a wonder they're still standing at all.
I believe I read somewhere, however I could be wrong, that Athens was told to build all temporary venues, that way they could be sold after. And they didn’t.
Some of them are garbage...after the Games nobody needs Bicycle dirt tracks or Hockey fields and many of these Stadiums (in Athens they have a Triangle Baseball field?) are fast and cheap builded, far outside the City. I mean, a big stadium far away with only one bassin for swim Athletes? Thats too less for serious Athletes training. Rafting areas, in greece? Think about the incredible costs and how many prestige these sports brings the country, nothing. Many Olympic sports are not interested by public so a Stadium or area is way too expensive for to let train Athletes there, i mean how many money you can make with field hockey in China or Athen...? Or Shooting? Gun or bow and arrow? Rafting/cajacking? Bicycle dirt tracking?
@@drhkleinert8241 I think with some advertising it might be possible to continue the use of some buildings. Like advertising classes for field hockey, target shooting, track and field, diving and swimming etc. Or even community use where they can host their own weekly games for fun. A lot of times people aren’t interested because they thought they’d never have access to the sport or be able to afford it.
@drhkleinert8241 That's why you build temporary stadiums for the smaller sports. Building permanent structures for these sports was stupid. But sports like athletics, swimming, hockey, etc should be maintained as there are lots of international championships that it can host. Netball, basketball and volleyball can all be hosted in one indoor venue, which saves money. When you can host international competitions, it brings money and interest to the city from sports tourists and the international media, it's prestigious for the nation, and it can inspire youngsters to take up the sport. Not everyone in the population will be good at football, so countries like Greece need to find a way to diversify. Saying that you only care about football is stupid and short sighted, because Greece will never ever host the World Cup or the European Championships, so being totally obsessed with Olympiakos and Panathinaikos is silly.
@leilanigirl777 You will make all that money back from the revenue generated by International competitions. Plus it means the youth have other sports they can take up instead of just football. Not everyone will be good at football and not everyone is interested in football. Diversify. It would also be a source of national pride instead of shame and embarrassment.
The most tragic is Athens 2004. There was no plan for the venues usage after the games. Credit to Sydney 2000 and London 2012 which doesn't feature. Sustainable development.
Putting any venue at the Atlanta olympics is a bit disengenuous, they highlight Herndon Stadium, but the reason that stadium is abandoned is that the College it belonged(Morris Brown Colleges, a HBC) to fell on hard times(embezellment), and had to shutter its program. The stadium had existed for five decades before the Atlanta games.
It's sad that Sarajevo went from a prosperous city in 1984 to a crumbled warzone in 1994...all it took was a decade and it's all thanks to nasty ethnic conflict. And the podium bottom of their ski jump...was used to eliminate innocent civilians. While the bobsled track was used for a Serb artillery position. Crazy Notice how Sydney, Los Angeles, London, nor Vancouver aren't featured here at all. That's because the venues in these places are still maintained and in use. And Los Angeles 1984 were the first Summer Olympics since 1932 to make a profit. Now the second most profitable after Seoul 1988
It’s wild to think that Rio happened much later than Athens and Beijing but their buildings look way worse. As if they were abandoned for a much longer time. Some of the stuff in Athens and Beijing look like they can be used, like the pool for example.
I just visited Cortina five days ago and was surprised to see how in good shape the “abandoned” venue is. I hope they can refurbish it for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
I was at the bob sled track in Sarajevo a few years back. We hiked up there and it was so beautiful yet so tragic at the same time. You gotta look up what actually happend there and at the olympic jumps- it's so awful. And yet they're so proud of the olympics they hosted and it's amazing how they thrive on their pride. Sarajevo is such a vibrant city with such lovely ppl despite their awful past.
Not much waste here in Salt Lake City, but there’s a lot of people here and lots of olympians from all around the world train here so our venues get used every day.
@@John-uz4et That's awesome! Thank you for that information 👊. Cities that have hosted the Olympics should do exactly what Salt Lake City is doing. Continue to use the venues and facilities instead of letting them rot.
This could all be easily avoided. Cutting down on the number of sports would help, not to mention utilizing already existing venues and temporary venues whenever possible. Looks no further that LA 2028 as a prime example.
It's not complicated, have the Olympics in Athens every four years and all National Organising Committees, combined with all the TV companies, pay a fee for the upkeep of the stadiums and the cost of running things during games time.
"It's not complicated" except it is because part of the reason it's still held in different cities is to boost tourism for those cities. If the Olympics is held in just one city, especially in a bankrupt one like Athens, it wouldn't profit tourism wise. Plus the Olympics also helps improve infrastructure in those cities. Can't do that if it's just one Also Athens is very much not a winter sports city lol so you gotta find a different place for the Winter Olympics, dum-dum
You realize the reason the Athens Olympics were dead was because all the Greeks left to go to holiday in other countries when the Olympics were on. The people didn’t want it
It's a shame that so many olympic venues just get abandoned after the games have finished. A lot of these actually still looked usable with a little TLC. They were talking during the coverage of the current Olympics about how things will need to change in order to make future games more affordable and less wasteful, even if that means using currently available facilities even if they are not all in the same locality.
... being used*. And why? Because they had a close look at the Munich Olympics of 1972. Before Sydney 2000, these were the only Olympics of which almost all venues were still in use and where the event gave a major boost to the local infrastructure.
My favourite thing about the Sydney 2000 olympics is that every venue they used was already a venue before, and is still well in use long afterwards. They didn't create any new venues specifically for the olympics that they abandoned immediately after. I love Australia
Same in Munich, even the Olympic Village and Press Village were converted into apartments (even the one where the terrorist attack took place). Olympia Park is a beautiful and lively place of huge importance to Munichers.
They actually did build numerous venues are the games. Most notably ANZ Stadium. The difference is that Sydney actually had a long-term plan. They didn't build first, ask questions later.
That's shocking to see Athens, Beijing and Rio's venues to fall apart years after. Where the money is gone after that ? As a Frenchman, I don't think it would be the same end for Paris's venues in 2024 : largely most of them are already existing and there is an immense reservoir of sportsmen and sportswomen in the region (watch about football, basketball, or even table tennis).
In the case of my country Greece the olympics of 2004 were one of the reasons we went broke. Most of the venues are still in use and some are repurposed but those shown in the video were the exception. In Greece baseball, hockey and kayak aren't popular and there is no club of those sports with enough budget to use them.
This is why LA is getting the Olympics in 2028. They really aren't building any new venues. The ones they are using are being utilized by pro and college sports teams and will continue to afterwards. They even have a velodrome left over from the 1984 Olympics that's been used for decades as a national training facility.
That's because USA is great at Sports Facility. Every arena/stadium is a Multi Purpose Venue. They can use their NFL Stadium into Football Pitch, Or their NBA Arenas can converted to Volleyball/Gymnastics/Wrestling
I think that an area like Los Angeles have stadiums and areas for nearly every Olympic Sport, or is there any Olympic think you cant do in LA Area now?
@@jackspicey7608 Wrong. The only major multi-purpose stadium still in use is the Oakland Coloseum. And it's not even used as such anymore as only a baseball team plays there that will soon re-locate to another city and the football team already has left. All other baseball stadium are for this particular sport only. Some football stadium do host soccer games, but for this only the field has to be repurposed.
This is why certain countries refused or later on pulled out from bidding to be the host of major sports such as Olympics, World Cup. Some of the sports played in Olympic have not being a common sport played by people of certain countries. For example, Greece wasn't notable for their baseball and we can see why. Countries must be able to consider a lot of things before planning to be the host for Olympics and other major sporting events globally.
I think the best planners for the Olympics are the ones that thought after the Olympics are done what will happen to the venues I was most impressed with Munich how they set up the Olympic Park and the Olympic Village walking distance to it or how Los Angeles and 1984 they used a lot of existing buildings and venues and it looks like Paris has thought about the future after the Olympics and how they utilized a lot of existing buildings for the events
100% and London 2012 has manged to keep a lot of the Olympic venus because London did not have them. They wanted to and were developing the East End of London so it was really lucky timing.
im surprised the the berlin pool held up so much after almost 100 years. The fact that the pool itself has all the tiles and stuff is just pure strength
great video, but you forgot lots of structures used during the winter olympics in Turin 2006. As an Italian this was a real waste of money allocated by the state to build sports facilities that are never used again. The most famous example is the ski jump used for ski jumping where the hotel was built next to the slope to host the athletes. Another example is the bobsleigh track which cost 120 million euros and was used just over 5 year after the end of the Olympic Games. in 2 years we will return to host the winter games in Milan-Cortina in Italy in 2026 but I already announce for these games too more money spent and structures abandoned to themselves
Parte el alma ver las sedes olímpicas en pleno abandonó, por suerte las sedes olímpicas de México 68 están bien cuidados ya se usan para todo tipo de deportes
es por que varias instalaciones se hicieron dentro de ciudad universitaria y debido a que el gobierno del país no presupuesta mucho para el deporte que se utilizan las pocas instalaciones deportivas que quedan y así ahorrar menos costos, como en otros paises donde como EEUU hay estadios deportivos que se abandonan por que se construyen nuevos.
Garmish is beautiful. I took some great photos of the ski jump there and some of the leftover Olympic architecture. Some of it is incorporated into hiking trails in the area.
London had the right idea and built temporary stadiums which were taken down afterwards. The Aquatic Stadium is still used and the main stadium remains a football ground and athletic stadium. The Athletes Village became social housing afterwards.
The Velodrome is still in use, pros & public access. The area is still in redevelopment 12 yrs on. The aquatics park was redesigned from original, site. BMX / MTB site is still used semi pros & publicly. London really did get it right. Sad we don’t have any Olympic Rings still on permanent display !
Such a shame. They work so hard to build these places for the Olympics and then after they’re done, they take an “I don’t give a fuck” approach to their future use.
Because building these venues are nothing but vanity projects. It also doesn't help that the locals don't care for many of these type of sports to generate any interest to keep these sites in use. Sadly only a few nations such as the U.S. has that kind of staying power from within the population for either recreational or professional sports.
What I find difficult to understand regarding the choice of where the Olympic Games are going to be held is; If instead of choosing a city as a venue, they do not choose a country, it is something much more bearable to host and maintain.
Perhaps the Olympics should always be held in the same country/place without ever moving to other venues. That way the dedicated facilities and accommodation could be state of the art and unchanging. Countries and teams could pay to use those same facilities for competitions and practice to familiarise their athletes with them and it would be a great tourism venue, even between Olympics. The residences in the Olympic village could also be rented out appropriately.
I live in Salt Lake and the venues we don’t use are taken down. All the venues in the city are used every day. But, they built venues that would have a purpose afterwards. Also, this is a big city with lots of universities and young families (thank you Mormons 😊) to support continued use and maintenance of the venues
This makes me both sad and angry! What a horrible waste of millions of dollars for a few days of sport every 4 years! These venues should be constructed with the intent for them to remain in use for the local communities once the Olympics are over.
(2:57) That stadium in Atlanta was used during the filming of the 2006 movie 'We Are Marshall'. That would likely explain the presence of the football goalpost visible in the lower-left part of the picture.
the video has old photos, because the olympic swimming pool is in the city of Salvador being used and most of the tennis arenas were temporary there are none more in the place, so the video does not correspond to reality
Very sad to watch😥.. these beautiful structures.. a gift to these countries and they don't seem to utilize the space or turn it into a botanical garden or something to memorialize its use once upon a Time.. something anything use it for youth programs 😟
Tokyo's venues for BMX and skateboarding were very temporary by the end of 2021 they were already gone and tbh seeing how the BMX tracks get totally ruined that soon, I think it was an amazing call
The fact that this abandoned with most of the time some of the objects/materials of JO is making me mad ! Like why they do nothing to maybe renovate it or just use it or making like museum or something with nature etc ??
And don't forget the badminton tho, that sport was also included in 1992 Barcelona Olympics , some people say badminton was asian sport, because about 95% champions were from Asia especially China and Indonesia, and for the european people feels like why this sport was even included on olympic games
This baseball stadium(4:15) was changed into football field and used by Ethnikos Pireaus FC after the Olympics for about a decate, it remained in a good shape, more stands were added. Too bad they left it, I dont know why they prefered to stay homeless
@@h_crow221 Badminton was invented in England. And I wonder if the Danish are included in your "European people" to be supposedly complaining about it. And you complain about these handful of Asian-dominated sports, while ignoring the majority of other sports which are all Western-dominated?
Because Greece wasn't the only country taking part in the Athens Olympics? Because it's popular in many countries even if it isn't in Greece? What's your point?
The beach volley stadium at 3:52 was a huge lost opportunity. It could have been used for all kinds of events and concerts, and instead it was abandoned and left to rot. I usually drive past it (the road in the back) and I'm wondering if it could ever be brought back somehow.
Legacy. Sydney hasn’t done too badly along with London. The velodrome in Barcelona is also a sad one, we went there in 1996 and other than a football pitch in the middle the rest of the venue was falling to bits.
why didnt they continue to use the facilities especially in athens, beijing and rio? they are all new structures and in crowded cities, at least the governments can rent the facilities to firms to operate them
The olympics were always a show piece for at least a city and sometimes a nation and thus things were built that were never going to be used again. That is why LA 1984 used a lot of temporary venues and then tore them down afterwards.
to be fair to the Sarajevo pictures the old ones looked like it was in winter while the new pictures were in the summer without natural snow everywhere, making it overall look worse
