The Sad, Wasteful Afterlife of Olympic Venues

Cities spend hundreds of millions of dollars (at least!) attracting the Olympics, preparing for the tourist onslaught, housing athletes and getting people to and fro. But what happens when the hoopla is over? Some cities manage to re-purpose the infrastructure built for the games—Atlanta handed much of its Olympic park over to Georgia Tech, for example. But many, perhaps most, of the building is ultimately left to rot. 

Photographers Jon Pack and Gary Hustwit have put together a project that follows up on the legacy of the Games. It's called The Olympic City and a bunch of their snaps are currently on display at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City, August 8 to 18. 

Some of the most striking evidence that Olympic infrastructure may not be an efficient use of resources below.

Beach Volleyball Stadium from 2008 Beijing Olympics:

Train station built for 1972 Munich Olympics:

Swimming Stadium built for 1952 Lake Ahvenisto, Finland, Olympics:

Photos from Flavorwire and Sociological Images.

For more, read Shikha Dalmia on the death of sports socialsm in London, Jesse Walker on why Paris was lucky to lose out to London for hosting duties, and Nick Gillespie celebrating Chicago's loss to Rio.