The outside cover Rio's Olympic aquatic stadium is falling off just six months after the games.YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty ImagesThe demolished remains of the former Rio Media Center, constructed to host some visiting media for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.Mario Tama/Getty Images Pamphlets sit among the demolished remains of the former Rio Media Center.Mario Tama/Getty Images Abandoned prefabricated houses remain next to the Olympic golf course, created and used for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images Athens Olympic rings shown in disrepair. $15 billion was spent on Athen's facilities. Fortunately, some have found new life.i09The Athens Olympic stadium. i09The Athens track and field arena. i09A toppled sign for a Beijing changing room. $40 billion was spent on the Beijing Olympic village. ConfidentiellesBeijing's baseball field.The BlazeThe outside view of the Beijing beach volleyball stadium.i09The Beijing kayaking venue. i09Berlin's Olympic village. Controversy clouded the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin as well, with Hitler using the event as a platform to promote a nominally “kinder” Germany to the world stage. Many countries threatened to boycott the Olympics that year, but ultimately most participated anyway.Flickr/ norbertloevBerlin gymnastics arena. Flickr/ unkreatives The rings inside the Berlin aquatic Center. i09Berlin aquatic center. Flickr/safefireA mural in an abandoned Olympic building in Berlin.i09Unused Olympic building in Berlin.i09These Olympic rings in Germany are barely visible. Flickr/ morgennebel Berlin's Olympic village. Flickr/ alicepopkorn Remnants of the outdoor Helsinki Olympic pool. Back in 1952, Helsinki was the twelfth host of the modern games, so the deterioration is less shocking than some. ConfidentiellesA pummel horse still stands in the Helsinki gymnastics stadium. ConfidentiellesPerhaps 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.BuzzfeedAnother view of the Sarajevo bobsleigh track. Flickr/ marcofieberSarajevo track being reclaimed by nature. Flickr/ marcofieberThe Olympic hotel in Sarajevo. i09Sarajevo ski jump.BuzzfeedDecaying outdoor Olympic rings in Sarajevo. Hedwig Klawuttke / Wikimedia CommonsThe Sarajevo sports complex. MSGT Michael J. Haggerty / Wikimedia CommonsRIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 21: Media pamphlets sit among the demolished remains of the former Rio Media Center, constructed to host some visiting media for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, on November 21, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The temporary structure was demolished two months ago following the Olympics but much of the rubble has yet to be cleared away. The hazardous rubble, which provides potential mosquito breeding grounds, is located downtown beside city hall, a convention center, and a day care center. Rio de Janeiro's state government is in the midst of a deep financial crisis. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
A great deal of preparation and construction go into hosting the Olympic Games -- but in many instances, the structures built only await dilapidation following the events' close.
Given the competition, cost, and sacrifices involved in creating and preparing spaces for the elite athletic ritual, the sight of since-abandoned Olympic villages often leaves viewers feeling a bit gutted. The photos above -- solemn, sparse images of elaborate sites succumbing to nature -- call the motivations of Olympic host cities into question, as well as the long-term value of the spectacles we observe every other year.
