The Olympics bring a lot of joy, happiness and pride. On the flip side, it also results in tears, heartbreak and disappointment. However, many people do not mention the waste it brings.
After every Olympics, many infrastructures and sports complexes are often forgotten and even become a financial barrier for the countries that held them.
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Although the Olympics only happen every four years, it requirs a substantial amount of money and resources. Even with the financial burden, the chance to hold one of the biggest sports events in the world is considered an honor to many countries. Athletes from six continents and almost 200 countries compete, thriving off the love and support from their fans. The hosting countries bring in millions of dollars from tourism and is the main reason that they host the Olympics despite the initial cost.
However, what happens after the closing ceremony? What will these infrastructures be used for in the future? This is a sad but true story, from the Winter to Summer games, from past to the present, from Berlin to Beijing. Many of those infrastructures are not even in use, and have become a waste and somewhat horrifying. The following pictures will make us all see the ”happily ever after" of the Olympics.
An abandoned pool of the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics, Germany.
The same thing happened to the pool of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, Greece
An abandoned beach volleyball stadium of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, China
An abandoned athlete village at the most recent 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Russia
I am not saying the Olympics is bad. I love the Olympics and it is on one of my bucket lists to go to an Olympic game. However, I am suggesting that countries that are holding/will hold the event should be more efficient and effective in utilizing the “million-dollars” or "billion-dollars" infrastructures for public use or something similar. We do not have much space and money to spare so I suggest that we use it in the best form before we run out of resources.
