Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

What The Abandoned Venues From The Athens Olympics Look Like 10 Years Later
Business Insider ^ | 08/08/2014 | Tony Manfred

Posted on 08/08/2014 9:22:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Ten years later, the 2004 Athens Olympics is a cautionary tale. Greece spent an estimated $11 billion on the Games, Reuters reports. They built all the expensive, highly specific buildings you need to host the Olympics — a village, a media center, an Olympic stadium, a canoe/kayak slalom center, etc. — and went 97% over budget in the process.

When the athletes went home at the end of August 2004, organizers learned a cruel lesson — Athens has absolutely no use for a canoe/kayak slalom center.

Many of these stadiums have become white elephants. The Olympic Village is empty, and the venues for softball, beach volleyball, and kayaking are all overrun with weeds.

With the IOC now struggling to find countries with enough money to waste on the Olympics, 2004 might be viewed as the last Olympics of an era when democratic nations saw the games as a worthwhile investment.

CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE PICTURES...

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society; Sports
KEYWORDS: athens; olympics
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last

1 posted on 08/08/2014 9:22:32 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

awesome pictures!!


2 posted on 08/08/2014 9:29:10 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Nobody learns nuttin’. They will continue to push for Olympics in Chitcago.


3 posted on 08/08/2014 9:29:39 AM PDT by Rodamala
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

i’m just glad it’s all going to be different in Rio.

Why that country, after all the investment for world cup and olympics, will be booming for the next century!!


4 posted on 08/08/2014 9:29:50 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Why not make them like the moving carnivals and just re-use them?


5 posted on 08/08/2014 9:30:30 AM PDT by huldah1776
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Looks like it’s time for another Athens Olympics —


6 posted on 08/08/2014 9:30:38 AM PDT by Uncle Chip
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

lot of money spent and for what?


7 posted on 08/08/2014 9:31:11 AM PDT by Joe Boucher ((FUBO) obammy lied and lied and lied)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Vikings stadium in 2020


8 posted on 08/08/2014 9:31:15 AM PDT by TurboZamboni (Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.-JFK)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

sort of like Detroit....


9 posted on 08/08/2014 9:31:27 AM PDT by llevrok (Straight. Since 1950.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

It’s all about graft, payoffs, and the skim. Contractors made money and the politicians made money. The taxpayers are left with the bill.

Same as it ever was.


10 posted on 08/08/2014 9:33:32 AM PDT by Leaning Right (Why am I holding this lantern? I am looking for the next Reagan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

A girl I work with is from Bosnia. She said the Sarajevo site is the same way.


11 posted on 08/08/2014 9:34:05 AM PDT by rfreedom4u (Your feelings don't trump my free speech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Give the Olympics a permanent location. Then you don’t have to re-invent the wheel every 4 years.


12 posted on 08/08/2014 9:36:26 AM PDT by ops33 (Senior Master Sergeant, USAF (Retired))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rfreedom4u

http://www.businessinsider.com/sarajevo-olympic-venues-2014-2


13 posted on 08/08/2014 9:39:24 AM PDT by headstamp 2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Rodamala

“They will continue to push for Olympics in Chitcago.”

with the drivebyathalon being the featured event


14 posted on 08/08/2014 9:39:41 AM PDT by Stormdog (A rifle transforms one from subject to Citizen)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
With the IOC now struggling to find countries with enough money to waste on the Olympics

Exactly. I appreciate that for the athletes it is a big deal. But why should tax payers foot the bill for the athlete’s moment of glory.

I do not for a moment think that this glory is somehow also for the athlete’s native country because it is simply not true. The athletes are now basically free agents that can go to another country that will pay them better.

We should also consider that home owners, farmers or business owners lost their property so that these Olympic facilities could be built. And now the land is fallow for generations to come.

This is a sin against freedom, the taxpayer and the land itself.

15 posted on 08/08/2014 9:41:20 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ops33

RE: Give the Olympics a permanent location. Then you don’t have to re-invent the wheel every 4 years.

They can rotate the locations for 4 specific sites KNOWN TO HAVE MADE A PROFIT from their Olympics.

The following Olympic sites have turned profits:

LOS ANGELES, USA

SEOUL, KOREA,

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

LONDON, ENGLAND

Let these 4 sites ROTATE their hosting.

For instance ( Setting aside Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 ):

2024 : Los Angeles, 2028 Seoul, 2032 Sydney, 2036 London and then back to L.A. in 2040, etc.


16 posted on 08/08/2014 9:41:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

And Montreal is stuck with a domed stadium whose roof can’t be closed.


17 posted on 08/08/2014 9:42:13 AM PDT by AU72
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Amazing. Awful. Angry-making.

Why don’t they have Olympics in Greece EVERY time. No other country needs to waste a dime building new extravaganza venues. Put the money into sprucing up this venue, which is at least “historically correct.”

But nooooo. Chest-pounding knuckle draggers who run governments want THEIR names on Olympic buildings.


18 posted on 08/08/2014 9:42:26 AM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely dispensed as advice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

If the IOC wasn’t so corrupt part of the bid process would include showing how the venues will be used after the games. But of course they are, so they don’t really care how the venues get used even during the games so long as there’s plenty of cash and hookers.


19 posted on 08/08/2014 9:46:52 AM PDT by discostu (Villains always blink their eyes.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

A place like North Texas already has all the stadiums and hotels they would need, no spend spending would be needed.


20 posted on 08/08/2014 9:49:34 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-49 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson