Every few years, the world tunes in to watch the Olympic Games.
From Salt Lake City to London to Beijing, cities across the globe have played host to the illustrious games with hundreds of athletes anxiously vying for their spot in history. But with hosting comes great responsibility, and often new construction that takes years to complete.
The construction, as we’ve seen, can involve destruction. It can also lead to athletic facilities becoming abandoned once the games are over. With many cities having no use for the elaborate luging slides or massive stadiums after the Olympics end, they become quiet and desolate monoliths.
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Let’s take a walk through these lands of the long-gone glory days.
Sarajevo 1984
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
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ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/Getty Images
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
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Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
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Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
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Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
Dado Ruvic / Reuters
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Athens 2004
Yannis Behrakis / Reuters
Yorgos Karahalis / Reuters
Yorgos Karahalis / Reuters
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Yannis Behrakis / Reuters
Kostas Tsironis/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
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Vladimir Rys/Getty Images
ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP/Getty Images
ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP/Getty Images
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Berlin 1936
JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images
JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images
Montag/ullstein bild/Getty Images
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Ritter/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Montag/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Martin Sachse/ullstein bild/Getty Images
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Martin Sachse/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Martin Sachse/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Martin Sachse/ullstein bild/Getty Images
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Martin Sachse/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Beijing 2008
David Gray / Reuters
David Gray / Reuters
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Turin 2006
Alessandro Albert/Getty Images
Alessandro Albert/Getty Images