The Long Shadow of the Olympics

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  • The Long Shadow of the Olympics

    Nations that host the Olympics typically launch ambitious, expensive construction ventures meant to project progress and revitalize urban areas. But in many cases, those efforts have  become white elephants that drag down government budgets and largely sit vacant.  

  • The Olympic stadium Montreal built for its 1976 summer games cost billions more than originally projected, leaving the city in debt for nearly three decades. Boris Spremo/Toronto Star via Getty Images

  • Atlanta avoided the fate of some cities saddled with unused Olympics facilities by converting its Centennial Olympic Stadium, built for the 1996 games, into a Major League Baseball stadium and later repurposing it for college football.   In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images

  • Sydney’s Olympic stadium, built for the 2000 summer games for $670 million, was afterwards converted for use as a rugby field and concert venue. It is expected to host part of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Lutz Bongarts/Bongarts/Getty Images

  • Athens spent $324 million to renovate its Olympic stadium used for the 2004 summer games, and it has since served as a music venue. Jason Reed/Reuters

  • Much of the Athens Olympic Complex sits abandoned over a decade after the 2004 games. Some experts blame the $16 billion price tag for contributing to Greece’s debt crisis. Oli Scarff/Getty Images

  • Broken seats litter Greece’s defunct Olympic baseball stadium more than a decade after the 2004 games. Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

  • Greece’s Olympic Canoe and Kayak Slalom Center in Athens remains abandoned and overrun with weeds. Yorgos Karahalis/Reuters

  • Beijing spent $45 billion for its 2008 Olympics, including $460 million for the centerpiece stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest. The city used it again to host the 2022 Winter Games. Jason O'Brien/Action Images via Reuters

  • Beijing’s volleyball arena remains deserted, along with many other 2008 Olympic venues. David Gray/Reuters

  • Russia’s 2012 Sochi Olympics were by far the most expensive games in history, costing more than $51 billion. The city’s Olympic stadium cost $270 million, not including the $50 million later required to convert it into a venue for the 2018 World Cup. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

  • Hosting the 2016 summer games cost the city of Rio de Janeiro at least $13 billion, including the construction of multiple new arenas and other venues. Leonhard Foeger/Reuters

  • Rio spent some $3 billion on a new subway line connecting the city with some Olympic venues, drawing criticism that the extension was over budget and fails to serve the broader public. Ricardo Moraes/Reuters

  • Less than a year after the 2016 games, Rio’s Olympic facilities, including the aquatics stadium, were closed to the public after falling into disrepair. Pilar Olivares/Reuters